Knights In The Nightmare
by Shintouyu
Summary: To fight alone in this world without someone to talk to you or to help you, was that not terrifying? "...Seven, no, five days... if you're still at the Starting City in five days, then we'll definitely meet again, Klein."
1. Welcome To My World, Players

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Chapter One

_Welcome To My World, Players_

_[Digital Reality]_

* * *

Of stone and metal the ancient labyrinth castle floated in the endless sky.

A world unto itself.

Composed of 100 strata, this place had yet to discovered, yet to be explored, yet to conquered; only a single stairway between each stratum connected the other, and each stairway was guarded by a horde of vicious monsters.

Adventurers from far and wide have come to traverse this massive castle, Aincrad, and solve its mysteries to earn fame, glory, and riches.

That is the setting for this VRMMORPG... Sword Art Online.

[...]

First Stratum. November 2022.

A blue pillar of light appeared in the central plaza of the Starting City as the avatar of the newly-arrived player slowly took form. The player's virtual appearance was that of a tall man with a rugged look that could only be described as shady or cutthroat. He was equipped with the standard gear, which consisted of cotton clothes with a light leather vest for protection and an extremely basic Two-Handed Sword - _a Longsword_ - for his chosen weapon.

The man smirked, the last time he had logged into Sword Art Online - _or SAO, as it was abbreviated _- was during the beta launch when only a lucky 1000 players were able to test out the game.

The game was certainly impressive back then but it was now far more impressive than before; there were only subtle differences but the changes included things such as the virtual senses being more fine-tuned, the visuals tweaked and enhanced, and the general atmosphere was even grander due to having almost ten times more players logged in for the official first-day release compared to the small number during beta testing.

A world of swords and monsters that a person could experience in life-like depth, it was like a dream come true, and he had missed it dearly when the beta had finished.

But now he was finally back in this digital fantasy.

Well, time was ticking, and he had a couple of hours to play before he needed to log-off and eat dinner. '_Let's see if they changed any of the weapons from beta_,' the man thought as he raced off to check the weapon shops.

"H-Hey, you, wait up!" a voiced suddenly cried out.

The man turned around and saw another person trailing right behind him.

The other player had medium-length purplish-red hair with a red bandanna that had two slanted golden stripes, the player looked like he had designed his avatar appearance based on modern anime or manga characters from Sengoku-esque works and was only equipped with the starter gear and a One-Handed Curved Sword - _a Cutlass, in his case_. He clapped his hands together and pleaded loudly, "Excuse me but can you teach me how to play?"

"Huh? Why are you asking me for?" The shady-looking player's voice was rather deep and intimidating.

The samurai-like player gingerly rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah, well, I saw you running like you knew where you going, so I thought you were someone who had played the beta."

"...Well, you guessed right," he gruffly replied, "I did play the beta."

Now that the other player got a good look at the beta-tester, he did see that the guy was very scary looking, but the fact that the person was even taking the time to talk with him meant that the beta-tester couldn't be as bad as he looked. "So, um, hey, can you give me a few pointers about the game?"

The man closed his eyes and thought for a few seconds; again his reply was rather gruff, "Sure, but first we check out the weapon shops," and began walking.

"Thanks, man!" the purplishe-red haired player grinned, "Oh, the name is Klein by the way."

"Kirito," the shady player replied back.

[...]

The two players quickly formed a party.

They viewed the stocks of the NPC-run shops but found nothing of value and so packed up mostly on potions. Afterward they explored a bit - _with plenty of explanations for Klein_ - before heading out into the large fields that were just some distance away from the Starting City.

Roaming the grasslands in plentiful amounts were the basic level one monster, a large blue boar named Frenzy Boar, scattered about. And further about near the edges of the vast forests, the other level one monster, Horned Caterpillar, could be found.

"We'll train on these," Kirito stated simply with a hand motioning to the blue boars.

"W-Woah! Damn it! Those things are huge and look really dangerous!" Klein trembled lightly with a foot stepping back.

"Relax, they're a passive mob, they won't attack unless you attack first," Kirito pointed a finger, "See that red cursor just right above it?"

"Y-Yeah, I do," the samurai relaxed a little with the knowledge that the surrounding boars weren't going to suddenly charge at him.

"The red color identifies it as a monster and there's three states to it. The regular arrow means a passive mob, if it's bouncing then it means an aggressive mob, and if the shape has changed into a sword then it means the monster has been provoked into combat. It'll also change color relative to your level: dark red for unbeatable, magenta for overly powerful, pink for weak, and of course red for average."

Kirito paused with a hum, "Oh, and another thing, depending on whether it's day or night, or even the weather, a passive monster might become aggressive or an aggressive monster might become passive," he shrugged, "Amongst other things," he added as an afterthought.

"Right, gotcha," nodded Klein.

Kirito continued with his explanation, "For players we'll be identified with a green cursor and for NPCs it's yellow. On the other hand, if a player has committed any crimes, such as PKing outside of a duel, then their cursor will turn orange and they won't be able to enter any towns for awhile, but get a big enough infraction then the color becomes permanent. Got all that?"

"Yeah, got it, thanks abunch, Kirito."

The gruff-looking player snorted with a devious grin, "Don't thank me yet, Klein. The fun part has yet to start," and his words caused the other player to shiver.

[...]

"UWAH! Help me!" Klein shouted at the top of lungs and his pathetic swordplay merely cut air. His target, a Frenzy Boar, fiercely charge at him and its powerful headbutt - _actually, it had hit him with its nose_ - sent the new player flying into the sky and then rolling on the grassy plains.

Kirito held back a laughter, which was incredibly creepy to look at if any bystanders were around to see him, "Come on, you can do better than that."

"Argh," Klein slowly picked himself up, "That bastar- WOAH!" and then rolled out of the way from the boar's next charge. As the boar skid on the grass, the samurai quickly got back up and ran away to his party member, "Seriously, help me out here!"

Kirito snorted and then stepped forward, "Step back," he told to Klein who listened quite well to his order.

The Frenzy Boar continued it's charge at Klein and completely ignored Kirito who was standing in its path. The beta-player held his sword at an angle and it glowed a blue color, when the boar rushed close enough, his sword slashed out in the blink of an eye at the monster's neck and instantly killed it.

As the Frenzy Boar shattered into particles of light, Kirito accepted his reward without looking and turned around to face Klein, "I know they look dangerous but that's the whole point of playing a realistic fantasy RPG."

"Jeez, it's hard to fight with them moving so much, ya know?" the purplish-red haired man mildly complained.

Kirito scoffed, "Of course they'll move, they're not training dummies. Though I guess I understand the pressure since you're experiencing this in person as opposed to just staring at them from a screen. Well, you'll just have to get used to it because that's how fights are here in SAO."

"Any tips?"

"Keep practicing."

Klein moaned as his furiously scratched the top of his head, "Argh, man, this is going to take forever! You're so lucky to have gotten in the beta, Kirito!"

The rough player smirked, "Whatever you say, Klein. Now, let's teach you some Sword Skills."

"Oh! I've been waiting for this, man!"

"You saw what I did earlier?" Klein nodded his head, "That's Slant, a rather simple Sword Skill," Kirito made a posture and his sword began to glow purple this time, "Hold your body like this."

The samurai copied the motions, "L-Like this?"

"Yeah, like that. If you perform the correct motions then the system will do the rest of the work for you. So, do you feel a sort of tug?"

"Um, something like that. More like a _bam_ kind of feeling."

"Alright, then let loose."

Immediately Klein's curved sword glowed an orange color and he released a battle cry as the Sword Skill lashed out, "WOAH! Hell yeah! I did it!" He pumped his fist in the air.

Kirito folded his arm, "Not bad. Then here's a secret that most players don't know, Klein," at the word _secret_ the samurai paid close attention, "Most Sword Skills don't actually need you to perform the whole body stance, only the motion of the arm counts for activating it," Klein opened his mouth but Kirito placed out a hand, "The other thing is intent."

"I-Intent? What do you mean by that?"

Kirito raised his arm for another Slant. Five seconds passed and then he swung down with an ordinary attack.

"Uh, Kirito, something the matter? Your Sword Skill didn't activate."

"Because I had no intention to use it. It's how the game tells whether you just want to do a slanted cut or use Slant. Just imagine it as a button on a keyboard or a controller to activate the skill."

"Oh, I get it!" Klein tapped his fist on his palm, "I appreciate the help, man. You've taught me a lot. Thanks."

Kirito grinned wickedly, "Like I said, don't thank me yet, Klein. Now, let's see if you can use a Sword Skill against a monster."

"Urgh, man, your avatar is really scary, Kirito!"

The gruff-looking player merely grinned even wider.

[...]

"You're almost there, Klein. One more Sword Skill should finish it off." Said player's HP bar was somewhat less than three-fourth of his maximum and the monster had only around one-fourth of its HP left.

"Easy for you to say!" Klein shouted as he avoided another simple charge from a Frenzy Boar.

"Relax already, it's only a level one monster."

"You serious?! I thought this thing was some kind of mid-boss!"

Kirito sighed, "It'd take about six good charges for a Frenzy Boar to kill you, and that's only_ if_ they can hit you cleanly. Meanwhile, with a one-handed curved sword, you should be beating it with two to three Sword Skills. So just relax, dodge the next attack, and then prepare yourself to activate one. You'll do fine, Klein."

"R-Right, gotcha!"

Klein cleanly avoided another straight charge by the Frenzy Boar. He took in a deep breath and steadied his breathing. He lowered his stance and raised his sword as though he was going to shoulder it and the weapon glowed orange. The Frenzy Boar snorted wildly and intiated another charge at him.

"HA!" The system directed Klein's body and he leapt off the ground toward the monster, the glowing power of his blade almost seemed like fire as it slashed down and cleaved the Frenzy Boar in two and the digital beast squealed in pain before exploding into particles of light. "AW YEAH!" Klein jumped into the air, "That felt awesome!" He made an exaggerated victory pose like those heroes from kid shows.

"Congrats on your first victory, Klein," Kirito lighly applauded, "Just a tip, it's easier, safer, and less scary, to activate a Sword Skill when a Frenzy Boar is skidding to stop its own charge; that's their blind-spot."

Klein laughed, "Kirito, seriously, thank you! It would probably have taken me hours to get this down on my own!"

The man shrugged, "Good thing you're a quick learner, Klein, otherwise it would have been a pain to wait for you to ressurect at the Starting City."

"Ugh, man, yeah, that doesn't sound fun at all," the samurai's voice trailed off as he inspected the scenery.

The grassy plains were vast and the setting sun painted the world in a reddish hue. To the north he spied a forest, to the east he could barely make out the giant walls of the Starting City, to the south there was a sparkling lake, and to his west was more plains resting under a endless sky with golden-colored clouds.

There were probably hundreds of players out hunting Frenzy Boars but due to the sheer size of the plains they were not visible to either Kirito or Klein.

Klein sheathed his blade and walked over to Kirito, "No matter how many times I look around... I really can't believe that all of this is just inside of a game," he spoke in awe at the beautifully crafted world and Kirito simply nodded back.

The two players silently stood around and let the peaceful atmosphere sink in. Eventually Klein was the first to speak as he stretched his body and checked his game menu, "Well, I think it's about time I logged off, Kirito. I ordered some pizza and it's going to arrive at 5:30."

_Has it already been that long?_' Kirito mused as he checked the time. He had spent almost three hours teaching Klein the basic things about SAO; from shopping, to buildings, to features, to stats, to quests, and finally to training on SAO's unique style of play. It was now almost time for him to return to the reality and eat dinner with his family. He snorted, "Maybe I'll see you around then, Klein."

The other player chuckled, "Yeah, catch ya later, Kirito! But again: thanks a lot, man. You taught me a bunch," and gave a thumbs up, "I'll definitely pay you back one day."

Kirito smirked, "I'll hold you to that."

Klein shivered in response, "Seriously. Your avatar is scary."

The gruff player turned around and walked away while he lazily waved a hand, "Yeah, yeah. It was nice hanging out with you too." He was going to spend another half-hour to grind on some Frenzy Boars before logging out.

But Kirito didn't get far before Klein's panicked voice reached his ears.

"Eh? H-Hey, what's going on? Where's the log-out button?!"

Kirito immediately checked his own menu and then clicked his tongue, "Damn, there's really no button. What a perfect time for a glitch." He turned around and walked back to Klein.

The samurai shouted at the approaching party member, "Kirito, the log-out button is gone!"

"I know," the beta-tester replied back in a low voice.

Klein furiously scratched his head and wailed, "Oh man, my pizza is going to get cold! I might have to pay extra for making them wait! They might even leave before I even get to log-out! My anchovy pizza and ginger ale!"

Kirito merely sighed at his partner's antic before sitting down on a nearby rock. He wasn't in the mood to hunt anymore and went about organizing the drops in his inventory. Kirito had acquired them from the many Frenzy Boars that he had slain when Klein was taking his sweet time to defeat his own first and second boars. "Why don't you send a message to a GM?" He suggested in mildly annoyed tone.

"They're probably drowning in bug reports already. By the time they get to me an hour will have passed by!" Klein panicked some more when he rechecked the time, "Argh! It's already 5:25! Hey, Kirito! Isn't there some other way to log out?!"

"You must really want that pizza," Kirito commented flatly, "Sorry, apart from the menu, I can't think of any other way to log out."

"Damn it!" Klein shouted, "Return! Log out! Escape! Link off!" He tried various other voice commands to no effect. Of course that was because SAO did not have voices command as part of its system. "I know that there always going to be bugs with an MMORPG on the first day... but not being able to log off when I want to is freaking stupid!" He snapped his fingers, "Wait, I got it! We can just turn off the power or take off the Nerve Gear!"

Kirito sighed wearily and placed a palm over his face as he watched Klein try to take off a helmet that wasn't there. "Do you know anything about how the Nerve Gear works, Klein?"

Klein stopped, "Um, sorta."

The gruff player dismissed his menu and stood up, "Right now we can't move our real bodies, that's because the Nerve Gear is intercepting our brain signals," he tapped his head, "and rerouting them to our avatars here in SAO. Otherwise, our real body would also be moving in the real world, and that would be incredibly dangerous while trying to play an action-heavy game like this. So it's impossible for anybody inside the game to forcibly turn off the power or remove their Nerve Gear."

Klein opened his mouth only to weakly close it and his arms hanged numbly to his sides.

The two players stood silent, deep in their own thoughts.

Kirito reviewed his own words. They couldn't log out on their own and were effectively powerless and trapped in the game until the problem was fixed. The lack of an alternative method to logging-out made Kirito, for some reason that he couldn't figure out, very uneasy and tense.

"So, unless this bug gets fixed or someone removes our Nerve Gear for us... we're stuck and all we can do is wait it out?" Klein mumbled in a daze.

"That about sums it up," Kirito answered.

"...I live by myself..." Klein said dejectedly, "You?"

"I live with my mother and my younger sister. They'll come and get me if I don't come down for dinner soon."

"You still live with your mom?" Klein stated in shocked.

"You want me to beat you dead, Klein?" the gruff player replied flatly, "This is just my in-game avatar."

"O-Oh, right," the samurai wryly chuckled as he realized that Kirito was probably younger than his choice of character. Next, another thought struck him, "Hey, wait, you have a sister? How old is she?!" he asked with sparkling eyes.

"Cheered up so soon?" Kirito said as he shoved Klein for standing a tad too close for comfort. "My sister doesn't like video games, so I'm afraid you're out of luck, Klein."

Klein laughed, "Sorry, man. Got a little excited there."

"You sure did..." Kirito placed a hand to his chin. He had a theory forming in his head and he didn't really want to say it aloud, but he also wanted a second opinion, "Hey, Klein, don't think this is strange?"

"Huh, what is?"

"The log-out bug," he stated, "It's a serious problem to the game's operation. For example, every second now your pizza is getting colder, that's like an economical loss of your money and time. The same is happening here. The longer it takes for us to log out then the larger our, and by extension Argus', economical loss is."

Klein gaped, "A cold pizza... that's as meaningless as hard natto!" he shouted with his hands gripped tightly on Kirito's shoulder.

The shady-looking player swatted the samurai's hands away, "Pay attention, Klein," he said in a low growl, "As I was saying, since it's like that, then the operators should have taken down the servers and logged everybody off."

"Right," Klein nodded.

"But it's been ten minutes since we've noticed this and there hasn't even been a system message yet, let alone the shut down of the servers. Don't you think that's strange, Klein?"

"Hm, yeah. Now that I think about it, it is really strange," Klein hummed as he rubbed his chin with serious contemplation. "Argus is really famous for being super considerate to it's user, right? Besides being a virtual reality, that's why everybody really wanted to be the first to have copies of SAO, even though it's just a game, it's because players liked the fact that the developers would seriously listen to our feedback. So it's sorta weird that they screwed up like this on their first day," he nodded sagely.

Kirito blinked. He certainly didn't expect all of that out of Klein. "Uh, yeah, right. I agree. Likewise, SAO is the very first VRMMORPG ever, so if a problem occurs here then it might create regulations for future games within the market."

The two players looked at each other for a moment and then sighed in unison.

"Ah, this is pretty bad," Klein uttered as he rubbed his forehead, "Could this get any worst?"

[...]

Despite being in the same party Kirito and Klein spent their idle time seperately hunting down Frenzy Boars while chatting about the game mechanics of SAO.

One thing in particularly that stuck out about Sword Art Online was that were multiple ways to attack a monster. Using the Frenzy Boar as an example, Kirito demonstrated that striking the joints induced greater flinches and slowed down the movement of the beast - _even if only slightly_ - and certain areas, like the eyes or a certain area behind the head near the neck, were almost always guaranteed a critical hit. Likewise, there were some places that simply weren't as effective to target, such as the tail or the tusks.

Using this knowledge to their advantage, Kirito was close to becoming Level 2, meanwhile Klein's EXP bar was only one-fifth filled since he was still trying to get a feel for the game's rather realistic style of combat.

But, despite their short time together, the two of them had already added the other onto their Friend's List.

"How long has it been," Klein huffed.

"Thirteen minutes," Kirito answered.

"WHAT?! Feels like it's been hour already, man!"

_Ding~Ding~Ding~_ The sudden sound of a bell chiming several times startled the two players.

"What the heck is this?!" Klein shouted with wide eyes as he and his partner were engulfed in a blue pillar of light at the same time.

Kirito was not as tense since he knew three reasons for the light: One, a player was logging in. Two, the player logging off. Or three, the player was teleporting. It was clearly not the first, but it was unfortunately not the second either as his conscience was not feeling the tugging fadeness that was associated with logging out.

That left the third scenario which greatly unnerved Kirito. He had experienced it a few times before during beta but there was always an alert beforehand by the GMs; this time, nothing, he was being forcibly teleported without a warning.

The blue light pulsed even stronger than before and then suddenly gave way to momentary darkness before returning briefly and finally faded away as well. Kirito and Klein found themselves standing on a large road paved with stone, a medieval-styled street surrounded by street lamps.

They were at the central plaza of the Starting City.

Klein opened his mouth to speak but then simply gaped as he realized that they were not alone. All around him was a vivid crowd of other players and the size was incredibly large, as though all ten-thousand players who had bought the game and logged in was gathered right here, right now, in this circular area.

It was a quiet for a few moments as everybody began to realize what had happened to them and where they ended up teleporting to, but soon the chattering began.

"What's going on?" "Is this a joke?!" "Can we log out now?" "Ugh, can't they work any faster?" "Hey, get over here, GMs!"

Suddenly someone loudly raised their voice and pointed to the sky. "Look up!" and the other players turned their heads upward and faced the sky.

The underlying bottom, the cieling of the 1st Stratum which was the underside of the 2nd Stratum, was checkered with an eerie red that was also spreading.

Kirito focused his eyes and could see that it was entirely composed of the words 'Warning' and 'System Announcement' within an elongated hexagon shape. He nudged his partner, "Hey, can you read that?"

The samurai quirked a brow before narrowing his eyes at the blood-colored sky, "Yeah, sure can. Guess the Admins or whatever are finally gonna tell us what's going on."

Kirito solemnly nodded. "It would be great if that was the case," he muttered under his breath.

The chattered slowly died down but an ominous feeling gnawed at the players as the sky became darker and the world was washed over in the bloody color.

Then something dripped.

A liquid oozed out from the crevices of the hexagons and fell towards the player but not a single drop had touched them. The thick substance coalesced in the space in between the ground and the sky and soon a twenty-foot robed phantom appeared floating far above the players. It was red, as muddled as the blood-like liquid that formed it, and the hems of the robes were embroidered with an ominous green.

A heavy feeling descended upon the players as they gazed into the shadowy but empty robes.

"I-Is that a GM?" "Why doesn't it have a face?" "How creepy..."

For a moment the phantom did not move but then, slowly, its disembodied white gloves lifted up and spread apart.

**"Players, I welcome you to Sword Art Online."** It had a deep and calm male voice.** "My name is Kayaba Akihiko and I am the only person in control of this world."**

Kirito's throated hitched. He knew that name and he recognized that voice. He had read many magazine articles and video interviews about that man.

Kayaba Akihiko was a game designer and genius in the field of quantum physics, the man who raised Argus from a small-time company into one of the leading coporations of its field, the creator of the Nerve Gear which allowed FullDive into virtual reality environments, and also the development director of Sword Art Online.

_'What the hell is going on here...'_ Kirito's thoughts churned.

**"By now, a majority of you players must have noticed the fact that the log-out button has disappeared main menu... That is not a bug; it is all part of Sword Art Online's unique feature."**

The players began to mutter as the words sink in.

"Not... a bug?" "Part of the system...?" "...Unique feature?"

The phantom slowly pointed upwards,** "Until you reach the top of Aincrad, you cannot log off out of your own free will,"** and then its hand went down. **"Additionally,"** a foreboding sense of dread dug deep into the core of the confused players, **"The disruption, tampering, or dismantling of the Nerve Gear is strictly forbidden."** Silence reigned over them as they held their breath. **"Hence, if any of these are attempted, the signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, thereby destroying your brain."**

The players began talking to themselves. Muttering and mumbling in greater fear and confusion.

Klein started to fiddle with his hands and remove the Nerve Gear that was not there. He laughed dryly, "Haha... What's that guy saying? Has he gone _nuts_? I mean, he's not making any sense! The Nerve Gear... SAO... it's just a game...! Destroy our brain... h-how he's going to do that?! Right, Kirito? _Right_?" his voice was breaking and he stared desperately hard at the beta tester.

Kirito frowned as he answered his party member, "It's very possible... But if you unplug the Nerve Gear then it won't have the energy to emit a pulse strong enough to fry the brain. Unless..." he frozed.

"W-What? What is it?!"

"...Thirty percent of the Nerve Gear's weight... is from its _internal_ back-up battery," Kirito practically spat out the information he recalled from the Nerve Gear instruction manual.

Klein's mouth formed several shapes before his voice came back, "T-T-That's totally crazy! So we d-die if the power disconnects? What if there's a power-outage or something?!"

As if to explain, the phantom avatar spoke.

**"To elaborate... disconnection from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock or destroy the Nerve Gear, will start the brain destruction sequence. These conditions have already been made known to the government and the public through the mass media in the outside world.**

**On that note... there have already been several cases where the relatives or friends of players have ignored these warnings and tried to forcibly remove the Nerve Gear..."** Kayaba Akihiko seemed to have paused for a breath and so too did the players, **"Thus the result is that 213 players have, regretfully, already expired from both SAO and the real world, forever."**

Terrified screams pierced the air. However, a majority of the players were still too greatly in shock and disbelief to show any outward reactions for that dreadful statement.

Kirito's mind pounded his head, _'213 players have died. 213 people, like me, have died. 213 lives__ have already ended and died.'_

Klein's body collapsed to the ground on all fours, "...don't believe it... I don't believe it...!" He shouted in a strained voice, "He's just trying to scare us! How would he do such a thing? Stop joking around and let us out already! We don't have the time to play along with your sick opening ceremony! Yeah... that's right, this is all just an event, some _fucked_ up tutorial!"

The robe figure continued speaking as though it was business as usual for it.

**"Players, there will be no need to worry about your real bodies. As of this moment, all forms of mass media are repeatedly reporting this situation; including the numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear removed or otherwise has disappeared. I have provided you all two hours to temporarily disconnect from the system, in that time-frame all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutions and be well cared for. So you may relax now... and concentrate solely on beating this game, this _world_, Aincrad."**

Kayaba Akihiko paused and then spoke again with a quieter voice than before.

**"I ask of you all to understand that Sword Art Online is no longer merely a game for you. From now on, this world _is_ your second reality. Thus, all forms of revivals in SAO have been removed. The moment your HP reaches 0, you will be terminated and your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear."**

Kirito gazed at the upper-left corner of his view. His username sat besides the full green bar that now represented his life. He bit his lips. A normal MMORPG had the player dying dozens of times to learn the ropes, he himself had played without restraint and died hundreds of times during beta to experience all that SAO had to offer... and now a single death meant the absolute end.

**"I repeat: for those who wish to return to the other world, you must climb to the One-Hundredth Stratum and defeat the final boss. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of this world. _That_ is your only exit."**

Klein raised his head, "Clear all one-hundred strata?!" He quickly got up and raised a fist, "How the fuck do you want us to do that?! I heard even the beta players only got as far as the Sixth Stratum!"

Kirito clenched his hands. Klein was right, during the three month beta period, the 1000 players were only able to reach the 6th Stratum before the beta ended. How long would it take 10,000 grief and fear strickens players to go all the way to the top?

_'It's impossible,'_ his thoughts told him but he squashed it away. Even if the players wanted to escape, the possibility of dying would keep them rooted to the Starting City.

And yet, it was also the possibility of escape that would drive others on, giving them hope to set foot outside of the city and advance against all odds and peril.

Kirito steeled his mind and resolve, he knew it would be a long time before the 100th Stratum would ever be reached, but he was willing to fight through it all. _'Mom... Suguha... Wait for me.'_

The robed phantom waved a hand over the crowd.** "Players, within your inventory is a special item; a gift from me."**

Hesitatingly the players checked their inventory. At the top of the list was an item that was not there before: Hand Mirror. They materialized the gift and stared blankly at the rectangular item.

Then, regardless of whether they held a Hand Mirror or not, every single player was engulfed in a blinding white light. Several seconds later the phenomenon ended and the players looked around. Something had changed.

They looked again at the Hand Mirror and saw their own reflection.

"What the heck?!" "T-This is really my face!" "W-Who are you?!"

The vibrant looks, the attractive faces and bodys that took meticulous hours of making, everything about their fantasy appearance from before was gone. Now only their true faces were staring back at them.

Klein's once youthful but lean samurai-looking avatar had changed into a more average bandit-like appearance. His long purplish-red hair was now red and spiked up while his chin sported a slight beard. "K-Kirito, is... is that you?" Even his voice had changed.

Kirito's avatar was no longer the intimidating shady-looking character. His height had shrunk - _no longer taller than Klein but not much shorter than him either_ - the once punk-styled hairstyle was replaced with a neck-length raven-black hair, and the overall appearance was quite delicate and feminine.

"W-Woah, you... you look like a girl! A-A complete opposite of your scary avatar!" Klein uttered in surprise.

Kirto frowned and spoke in a rather bell-like voice, "Klein... I am a girl," she said.

"H-Huh?"

"I normally choose a male avatar in MMOs because I think the guys look cooler," she simply stated._ 'I don't like the amount of skin female characters show off,'_ she didn't voice.

"H-Huh?!" Klein stuttered even more strongly than before and his face turned feverishly red.

Kirito ignored him in favor for examining her virtual body. "How...?" she mumbled. How was it possible that this avatar was exactly the same as her real body? She dug deep into her memories, shifting through every experience she had with the Nerve Gear until she found what she was looking for, "It was during the calibration..." she muttered.

During the extensive set-up, after the installation of Sword Art Online, the Nerve Gear had saved how much a person had to move their hands to reach their body in order to accurately reproduce the sense of kinetic inside the game. Thus, in a way, it knew exactly what kind of physical shape a player's body was like.

**"Players, as I have said... _This_ is now your reality,"** Kayaba Akihiko paused, **"You all must be wondering why I am doing this..."** and, as though those previous monotonous words were but a lie, his voice was subtly filled with the barest of emotions, **"But there is no longer a reason nor a purpose. And that is because, to create and watch this world, this situation itself was my sole purpose and reason in doing so."**

It was always said that there was a fine line between genius and insanity, and Kirito wondered if or when Kayaba Akihiko had long crossed that line.

**"And now... _everything_ has been realized. With this I have finished the official tutorial of Sword Art Online. Good luck, players."**

Slowly the phantom collasped into itself and vanished, the sky returned to normal, and all that was left were the remaining ten thousands players standing around in a daze amongst the soft orchestra hum of the BGM.

Within moments the players exploded with rage, fear, confusion, denial; a swirling mess of emotions.

"The hell is this?!" "Let me out of here! Let me out!" "I-I can't be trapped here! It's not possible!" "I want to go home! Please, let me go home!"

Kirito scrunched her face, she didn't want to stay here any longer in this negative cespool, complaining wouldn't get them anywhere. She walked over to Klein and quickly but strongly grabbed his arm, "Let's go," she said, though her voice was drowned out in the surrounding commotion, and then dragged her lethargic partner through one of the exits of the central plaza.

When they were a bit further from the crowd, Kirito stopped pulling, she turned around and spoke, "Klein," she addressed him but he still retained a rather blank face, "I'm going to leave the Starting City and head on to the next village, come with me."

Kirito was normally a solo player but things were different now, SAO was no longer a game, if a player's HP reached zero then they would die. She knew very much that Klein was still a newbie -_ a fragile beginner_ - and the chances of him dying on his own was tremendously high. She didn't want that. She liked Klein, he was a energetic fool but a good guy nonetheless and he was also the first person she had met in this world and was someone she could also easily get along with too.

She wanted the two of them to survive.

"We need to get stronger," Kirito stated, "MMORPGs are all about battling for resources between players. That means getting the most money and experience... and the other players who realize this will soon be out hunting all the monsters around the Starting City. It'll take forever for the monsters to respawn, so heading to another village is the best choice. I know the fastest, and safest, way there, so it won't be a problem for both of us even if we're only level one."

The older player reacted slowly to her words.

"I've... I've got friends who waited in line with me to buy SAO... They're most likely logged in and still standing around in the plaza right now. I-I can't leave them behind, Kirito..."

Kirito shook her head. Even though his eye was begging her, there was simply no way she could safely travel with more than three players - _and that was including herself_. A group like that would not only bog them down but their safety would also be the leader's responsibility. That is to say, they would be_ her_ responsibility. "I'm sorry," she simply said to him.

Klein smiled, "No... No, it's alright. I can't keep relying on ya forever, Kirito..." He weakly scratched his cheeks, "You know, I used to be a guild-master in another game I used to play, so it'll be fine, I'll just make do with all the stuff you've taught me so far. So don't worry about us and just head on to that village, Kirito."

She did not like this.

Kirito knew there was no real reason why she had to be the first out of the Starting City, to be the very first to start hunting for money and equipment, as she could simply wait for the monsters to respawn and take her time. There was simply no reason why she should do something so risky as fighting alone when she could just help Klein and his friends...

But the feeling of powerlessness aggravatingly gnawed at her and she wanted to get rid of it. The only way to do so was to level-up until she was strong enough to personally feel safe.

_'How selfish,'_ her thoughts scolded her, which made her internally cringe.

Kirito turned around, brought up her main menu, and dismissed her party with the samurai. "This is where we part ways then." But she simply could not abandon Klein; to fight alone in this world without someone to talk to you or to help you, was that not terrifying? "...Seven, no, five days... if you're still at the Starting City in five days, then we'll definitely meet again, Klein."

Get strong as fast possible, even if it was only false courage gained by numbers for her virtual body, and then return to help Klein and his friends. This was the soundest plan she could think of.

She started to walk away.

"Kirito!" Klein called out. She stopped and looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "You're really cute! Even though you're scary, you're just my type, ya know?" He looked like he was going to cry.

Kirito puffed out a breath and then smiled, "You're pretty cool looking yourself, Klein," she waved, "See you soon," and quickly ran off.

The raven-haired girl departed from the Starting City soon after. The girl did not chance looking back and seeing what - _and who_ - she was leaving behind.

_'Stay alive, Klein...'_

* * *

**Author Notes**

I really should stop typing out stories on a whim... That is to say, I have no idea where I'm going with this.

Anyways, I am definitely going to tweak some SAO mechanics here and there. For example, according to the SAO Wikia, a player needs to practice with One-Handed Sword before the options of Two-Handed Sword or Rapier appears. In this story, those are standard Weapon Skills you can start with.

On an unrelated note, I'm of the honest opinion that the 1000 beta players could have gone way further than the 6th Floor. It's just that they were busy thoroughly exploring each floor before even attempting to move on.

Also, I'm taking some cues from Etrain Odyssey for terminology, such as 'Stratum/Strata' instead of 'Floor.' And the title of this story is definitely borrowed from the DS/PSP game 'Knights In The Nightmare.'


	2. Remedy For A Sick Girl

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Chapter Two

_Remedy For A Sick Girl_

_[Medicine]_

* * *

First Stratum. November 2022.

Kirito ran out of the Starting City at full speed, her destination was a small nearby village called Horunka that was hiddened deep within a maze-like forest to the west of said city.

She blazed through the vast plains and vented her anger and self-hatred out on the Frenzy Boars. She unsheathed her sword from her back and struck every single one of the pig-like monsters that came within her way with a Slant aimed at the base of their neck -_ a critical hit_ - and defeated each one near instantaneously.

She continued to run like this whilst avoiding the more dangerous areas until she finally reached the safety of the small village.

[...]

Horunka Village was situated in a small clearing that defined the borders between safety and death. It had relatively few establishments - _only one inn, a weapons shop, and a tools shop_ - and was comprised of mostly generic NPCs and their homes. However, all of that was more than enough for Kirito and could easily serve as a temporary hunting-base.

As a beta-tester, Kirito knew what this village had to offer: a quest. 'Secret Medicine Of The Forest (Horunka),' it was called, and the reward was a one-handed sword. The weapon by itself was certainly useful -_ it's bare stats were acceptable for the 2nd Stratum_ - but more importantly it had an enhancement slot of eight - _when the average enhancement slots for a weapon on this floor was only two-to-three_ - and so could become a relatively powerful weapon that could last her all the way till the 5th Stratum if needed.

With haste she ran into the boundaries of Horunka and didn't stop until she was nearly in the center of the village. She collapsed onto the ground and gasped heavily for air.

She was not physically tired, as her character had an infinite amount of stamina, but she herself could still feel mental stress and fatigue. Thus she needed to cool down her head because it felt like she had ran for hours on end, even though it was actually only about twenty minutes since she had left the Starting City.

Kirito laid on the ground for a short while to catch her bearings.

An image of Klein flashed through her mind and quickly disappeared. She grimaced at her passing anxiety but all she could do was hope and believe that the other player would definitely be safe and sound when she finally returned to the Starting City.

This was not the time for her to start regretting her decision; for now she had other things to do.

She quickly got up and patted the virtual dust off. She had two objectives today: First, complete the Secret Medicine Of The Forest quest and, Second, grind to level five before the day was even over. She could find time to relax afterward.

[...]

Kirito walked into the unnamed weapons shop and tapped the NPC.

"Yes, how may I help you?" the elderly owner asked as a menu appeared.

Kirito selected the option to sell and sold off every unwanted raw material that she had acquired from the Frenzy Boars - _their tusks, their meat, their hooves, their tongue, and so forth_ - and received an appropriately large amount of Col from her sale. Quickly, she browsed the available stock and only bought one new item: a Leather Coat, which offered a decently high amount of extra defense without slowing her down.

She clicked the equip option on the Leather Coat from her inventory and was briefly surrounded by a soft light as the selected article of clothing materialized over her.

Kirito looked at a nearby full-length mirror that all stores in SAO seemed to have and gazed her reflection. It was only about half-an-hour ago that she was playing as a tall, punk, bandit-like character and now she was looking at her dainty self that was copied exactly into this world.

A thin and seemingly fragile body with raven-black hair and coal-gray eyes, a young girl who was only fifteen years old, trapped in a death game of swords and monsters.

She snorted,_ 'Now's not the time to be worrying about my appearance.'_

Kirito spent the rest of her money on two spare Longswords and everything else on tons of recovery and antidote-type potions at the tools shop.

She dashed out and headed for the house that contained the quest she was looking for. She walked through the unlocked door and saw an older NPC woman stirring a pot in the open kitchen. The motherly character tagged _Miriam_ turned around, "Oh, good evening, adventurer. You look tired, but sadly I do not have any food to give, all I can offer is a cup of water for you. Is that fine?"

"Yes, that'll be fine," Kirito answered, even though a simple _yes_ would have been just as easily accepted. She sat on the open couch of the open living room and waited.

Miriam stopped stirring the pot, opened a drawer to get an old cup, and then she grabbed a pitcher and poured some water. She placed the drink down on the table. Kirito slowly drank to quench her parched throat as the NPC woman returned to the kitchen and stirred the pot. Moments later, the coughing of a young girl could be heard coming from the nearby room and Miriam slumped her shoulder.

A golden exclamation mark appeared above the NPC's head.

"Is there something wrong?" Kirito asked; it was one of many generic phrases to start a quest.

Miriam turned around and started speaking slowly, "Actually, you see, it's my daughter... she's very sick. I've tried everything but nothing has cured her illness. At this rate, I'm afraid she's..." the woman trailed off in nervousness, "The local medicine man has given me a remedy... but I lack the final ingredient: the ovule of a Little Nepent that can be found around Horunka Village. Unfortunately nobody in the village is strong enough to hunt those dangerous monsters and the ones that have an ovule atop their head are too rare to search for.

I know this is alot to ask for, but, adventurer, will you please retreive a Little Nepent's Ovule for me? I shall reward you with a sword that has been passed down for generations in my family if you do."

Kirito stood up from her seat as her quest-log updated with the content of the Secret Medicine Of The Forest (Horunka). "Yeah," she simply stated, even though it was completely unnecessary at this point.

"Oh thank you, adventurer," Miriam gently smiled with small sense of hope underneath, "I pray that you return soon."

[...]

The moonlit forest that was west of Horunka was dense with vegetation - _save for some small clearings_ - and was home to the plant-like monster, Little Nepent, that roamed in predatory hunger.

Slowly and carefully, Kirito moved about.

As a level one player she currently only had access to two skill slots - _with one more unlocked every tenth level and two every twenty-fifth_ - which could be filled with either General skills, Passive Skills, Combat Skills, or Weapon Skills that provided some type of bonus. Every skill started at Level 1 and could reach Level 1000 - _every one-hundred was a major leap in proficiency_ - and was considered _Mastered_ by then.

Normally for solo players there were several invaulable skills for surviving alone, the most immediate ones being Search or Hide, but she had not choosed either of those.

Her first slot was occupied by the Weapon Skill Two-Handed Swords, which granted her a bonus for using such weapons-types - _at the basic level it gave her a minor increase in Attack Damage and Weapon Durability, and at higher levels it would further increase Attack Damage, Weapon Durability, and Sword Skill Damage_ - and her current weapon, the Longsword, did indeed belong to the two-handed sword category.

She had chosen this particular skill because in the real world she had practiced Kendo and the shinai were typically held with two-hands, and so she was comfortable with this style of wielding. However, Kirito was not strictly a formal Kendo practitioner, as her two months in SAO's beta had evolved her method of fighting to a more flexible state to handle more inhuman opponents, such as the Little Nepents she was currently hunting.

Her second slot was filled with the Passive Skill Battle Healing. A player's HP would naturally recover about 5% of their max health every sixty-seconds, but a basic level Battle Healing reduced that time to every fourty-five seconds - _at higher levels the time and health recovered would increase_. She wanted to level up this one as quickly as possible.

She had not chosen Search because she trusted her senses to be sharp enough, even in the dark, to assist her in her endeavor over the system's help. And she had not taken Hide because she personally did not think that she would find herself using the skill all that much and also because it was not quite that useful in this particular forest.

Kirito peered into the dimly-lit forest - _without Search she had to put in a bit more effort to locate things with her own sight_ - and caught the outline of a cursor: a bouncing magenta-colored cursor, an aggressive monster that was much stronger than she was. Though the name of the enemy did not appear until she saw it with her own eyes, the only monsters that spawned in this part of the forest was the Little Nepent.

Treading cautiously forward, she hid herself behind some bushes and spied at the top of the lone Little Nepent.

Despite being called _little_ the Little Nepent was anything but, as it's size was almost as tall as the average player. It was grotesquely bulbous with a tiny sprout over its head with many writhing roots beneath it and also sported a large salivating jaw. Its lips were a bright red, the teeth was a clean white, and its spotted body was the color of sickly yellow and green.

The Little Nepent was simply a freakishly alien plant that moved via their up-rooted roots.

Ignoring their appearance, Kirito recalled the simple tid-bits that she knew about them from beta. They were an aggressive Level 3 mob, were quite fast despite their unruly size, their mouth could spit acid and their vines were uncoordinated but sharp, they leaned toward being offensive with low defense, and found their preys -_ oddly enough_ - through the sense of smell rather than sight or something else like sensing vibrations.

More importantly, there was three different types of Little Nepent - _though they're all just named as Little Nepent inside of the game and even had the same stats_.

The first was the basic and hideous Little Nepent. The second was the Ovule Little Nepent with negligibly higher stats which had a red orb, the ovule, atop its head instead of a sprout and had a spawn rate of about five percent. The third was the Trap Little Nepent, which had the same spawn-rate as the ovule but instead had a black seed that if broken would release an unpleasant fume that would lead all of the nearby Little Nepent toward the stench with immense rage; a definite death sentence even for a small group of players at Level 5.

_'Not this one...'_

The Little Nepent before her had neither an ovule nor a seed. However, that was fine. Killing an ovule-less Little Nepent would increase the chance of one spawning and she was also here to level up, so fighting any Little Nepent she found was well within her interest.

Kirito brandished her blade and she dashed out with her Longsword lit up in blue. The Little Nepent fearsomely lashed out with its vines and scrapped the shoulders of her coat but were too shallow to actually harm her HP. She struck cleanly with a Horizontal at the stalk of the sprout - _its weak point_ - and wiped out nearly a third of the monster's health with that one attack.

Here, most players would choose to retreat and then run back for another attack. But Kirito was not like most players, she had real fighting experience combined with intimate knowledge of the game, thus her two-handed sword hummed with a purple glow in preparation for a Sword Skill.

Little Nepents were quick to attack from afar but close in own one and their reaction speed would noticeably decrease due to their over-stretched vines and lack of eye-sight.

Without hesitation, one that many would call a fool-hardy decision in a death game, Kirito unleashed a Slant at the stalk and took another third of the monster's HP. Quickly she readied herself for another Slant, but this time planning to initiate the Sword Skill from below rather than above.

The vines whipped and snaked forward to strike Kirito from behind but she immediately activated Slant after her cooldown and promptly cut down the rest of the Little Nepent's health. The monster froze in a cold blue as its death finally registered and then it shattered into thousands of tiny fragments; she finished the Little Nepent all right before its vines could pierce her back.

A golden light surrounded Kirito and a soft cheery tune played for a brief moment. _'Ah, I've leveled up,'_ she thought as she checked that she had now reached Level 2.

She did a sweep of the vicinity and did not see any other cursor around her, so she continued to manipulate her menu.

Because Sword Art Online did not use magic, the stats-trinity was composed of Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), and Endurance (END) - _instead of Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence_ - as the character parameters in SAO. Every time a player leveled up they were given four stat points to allocate in any of these attribute; STR increased things like Attack Damage, while DEX affected stuff like Movement Speed, and END was related to parts like Defense and Health.

Kirito quickly dropped 2 points into STR and 1 point into DEX and END, as she already knew that she was best at being a Strength-based character rather than an Dexterity or Endurance-based one; her future planning character-build was to primarily stack her STR, with END as secondary, and DEX would otherwise be increased every so often.

Closing her menu, she did another sweep and found a Little Nepent nearby; it had not smelled her yet.

Kirito immediately went back to hunting.

[...]

Kirito laid her back on a tree as she drank a red potion which slowly restored her health. She tossed the bottle onto the ground and it instantly shattered.

It has been around twenty minutes since her incursion into the forest and she has already eliminated fifteen Little Nepents and was well on her way to becoming Level 3. She had used up about four Recovery Potions in that time, always drinking one when her HP fell below fifteen-percent of the maximum amount.

She let out a sigh. She had never really liked luck-based quests when concerning item drops, but for now all she could do was persist on.

[...]

Something felt wrong to Kirito. The once quiet forest was not as quiet as before, there was something besides her and the Little Nepents in this maze. _'Is there a new monster type?'_ she dreaded as her instincts told to return back to Horunka for the night.

She wearily shifted her eyes for any nearby cursors but could not spot any. _'Hiding...?'_ In the beta version of SAO, the monsters with the ability to hide were first discovered on the 4th Floor. Was it possible that an earlier one was put into the official release?

She tightened her grip on the handle of her weapon. The only other explanation was a player with the Hide skill and Kirito did not like the implications of someone using said skill to sneak up on her.

The sound of the shuffling of leaves caused Kirito to whirl around. It was definitely not made by the movement of a monster nor the blowing of the wind, "Come out!" she demanded with her raised blade.

The rustling immediately stopped.

"Ah... S-Sorry," the voice of a boy responded meekly, "I-I didn't mean to scare you like that. I... I really should have just called out earlier but I got nervous..." The other player then slowly walked into Kirito's sight. The boy was a young teenager like her; he had short dirty brown hair and sharp eyes, his equipment were the rather basic leather and he was holding onto a Shortsword and Buckler.

Kirito lowered her sword but kept it ready just in case, "I see," she paused, "Are you a beta tester?"

The boy chuckled weakly, "Y-Yep; you too, right? Sorta rare to see a girl that plays video games seriously..." he commented.

She simply ignored that remark, "Are you here for the Secret Medicine Of The Forest quest?"

"Yeah, I am," he said as he pushed up his fingers on the bridge of his nose but then noticed that there was nothing on his face and smiled wryly. "U-Um, you're doing it too right? What do you say if we party up then?"

_'He must have worn glasses in real life,'_ Kirito thought at his earlier, but natural, action, "You're aware that it's an individual quest, right?"

Like most MMOs, the quests in Sword Art Online could primarily be put into two categories: Individual Quests and Party Quests. In Party Quests, any single member of a party completing a quest objective would apply to the rest of the group. In Individual Quests, the player had to achieve things on their own.

For example, the Secret Medicine Of The Forest (Horunka) quest required the player to gather a Little Nepent's Ovule to complete it. Even if two players teamed up, only the player that hands over an ovule would be completing it. In other words, the other player would need an ovule of their own as well.

The boy made a calmer smile, "That's true, but if we work together and hunt down the normal Nepents, then the one with the ovule will spawn sooner, right?"

Kirito slowly nodded. She kept an eye on the other player as she opened up her menu and sent him a party request.

The boy accepted and then his HP bar appeared with the name _Coper_ to the side of it. He tilted his head briefly with a look about trying to remember something he had forgotten but then shook his head, "Ah, I'll be in your care, Kirito," Coper said.

Kirito half-turned around, she had no plans to show him her back - _perhaps she was just paranoid_ - and motioned for him to follow, "Come on, we have two ovules to hunt."

[...]

"Hey..." Coper started slowly, "I've been wondering... but aren't you using a two-handed sword?"

"I am," Kirito replied shortly.

"Um, well, the Anneal Blade is a one-handed sword. So why are you doing this quest if you're advancing two-handed?"

"It's convenient," she answered.

The strongest Two-Handed Sword that was available on the 1st Stratum was the Dire Wolf Zweihander, a rare monster drop from the Level 7 Dire Wolf with four enhancement slots. However, even if it was fully enhanced, it was still only two-thirds as strong as a fully upgraded Anneal Blade. Problematically, the materials needed to fully enhance it the third and fourth time were also only available by the 2nd Stratum. Lastly, a Zweihander in SAO required higher STR to be wielded in one hand, meanwhile a Claymore or Longsword had lower requirements respectively.

It was simply Kirito's preference to be able to hold a sword with two-hands or possibly one if need be to account for every situation.

"Is that so...?" Coper mumbled at the unexplained answer, and then hung his head and sighed, "It still hasn't appeared yet..."

The two beta testers had been hunting Little Nepents for nearly an hour, with Kirito reaching Level 3 and Coper at 2, and the two players had cleared out over a hundred of the plant-like monsters with their team-work.

"Maybe the drop rate has been lowered since beta," Kirito commented boredly. She really, definitely, didn't enjoy luck-based quests.

"That would suck," the boy responded dryly with a hint of tiredness, "What now? We've been hunting for awhile now, so the durability of our weapons have dropped quite a bit. Right now would be a good time to head back to town and restock," Coper suggested.

"You can go back if you want," Kirito stated. She still had a decent supply of Health Potions left along with her two spare Longswords, so she was good for hunting another hour-and-a-half or so.

The boy lightly frowned before looking away, "Ah, well..."

Further in the distance but not too far, a pillar of red light shimmered into existence, it was the respawning of another Little Nepent. But, even though the respawn animation was over, the monster still glistened a faint red in the dark.

Coper blinked and stood up from his sitting position, "Is that...?!"

Kirito focused her eyes. The faintly glow was a characteristic unique to the Little Nepent's with an ovule. However, she had a bad feeling about this and peered further into the darkness.

The shadows squirmed in return.

"...Can you see something behind it?" Kirito asked uneasily.

The boy narrowed his eyes and, after a bit of searching, frowned. "A Trap..."

Only a couple yards away from the Ovule Little Nepent was the Trap Little Nepent with its swaying seed of death. It was close enough that it would definitely assist the Ovule, and that was extremely dangerous as another Little Nepent could accidentally destroy the seed with their inaccurate and raging vines.

Kirito had once heard a rumor that if an Ovule Little Nepent was not hunted quick enough then its ovule would become a black seed: a Trap Little Nepent.

She wasn't about to wait and find out.

"Coper, go and get the ovule. I'll handle the trap." Kirito had found that Coper was a good player but a tad on the defensive side for her taste. She was simply fairly more confident that she could defeat the Trap, without hitting the seed, in twenty seconds or less.

The boy hesitated for a moment before silently nodding in agreement.

Kirito rushed foward, the Ovule spotted her and screeched as she avoided its vines and ran passed it, towards the hidden Trap. The Trap Little Nepent made a high-pitch screech of its own as she sped forward with her glowing green sword. Its whipping vines missed as she lowered her posture and then unleashed a Horizontal that cut through the body of the monster.

The fact that Ovule Nepent had not followed up and hit her meant that Coper must be fighting with it right now. So she was now free to focus solely on defeating the Trap Nepent.

She swiftly performed another Horizontal, then dodged to her right, and avoided the returning vines which actually stabbed into the body of its owner. The Trap wailed in pain and Kirito took this opportunity to close in and use another Horizontal again before retreating.

The Trap Little Nepent closed its mouth and bloated up, preparing to expel its vile acid in a gunky spray. The attack was corrosive on the Durability of weapons and shields but also far more deadly than getting hit by the razor whips of its vines. The monster targeted Kirito but writhed in confusion when the female player was neither found in front of it nor to its side, but was instead directly right behind it.

However, the Trap could not stop its attack, it _had_ to spit out the acid, and it could not use its vine until this was done. It's simple AI could not think of a solution to this dilemma.

Using this opportunity to her advantage, Kirito rinsed and repeated with two Horizontals before the Little Nepent could even make a full turn. She side-stepped and simply slashed repeatedly at the monster. It's remaining HP quickly disappeared and the Trap soon died and shattered, leaving behind only the black seed which fell onto the ground with a dull thud - _it made Kirito wince on the off-chance it would crack_.

The death trap would remain on the ground for another forty-five seconds before harmlessly dispersing.

Kirito stood by the seed until it was gone. When it finally shattered, she let out a relieved and tired sigh, and tilted her head upwards to the moonlit sky, "It's going to be a long night..." she mumbled. She was not looking forward to hunting for another ovule at all.

It was going to be such a hassle since Coper had chosen to leave her behind.

At one point - _while she was waiting for the black seed to vanish_ - Coper had quickly slain the Ovule Little Nepent, picked up the required quest-item, and then ran off whilst also leaving their party so he couldn't be tracked down.

If she ever met with him again then she would definitely show him a piece of her mind; a large sharp metal piece of it.

Blankly, Kirito scanned the area and noted some red cursors further away, all bunched up into a group. Slowly she walked towards them and then amusingly chuckled from her hidden position, "How lucky..." Admist a group of five Little Nepents was one with an ovule.

Manipulating her inventory, Kirito stored away her worn down Longsword and materialized two new ones. Her lips turned slightly upward as the familiarity of dual-wielding slowly returned to her.

Dual-wielding was extremely popular during the first week of Sword Art Online's closed-beta, simply due to being culturally cool for gamers. However, the style was quickly abandoned when it was discovered that is was not an easy fighting-style to learn and - _more often than not_ - completely impractical to the unskilled. However, despite all that, there were still quite a few players who stuck to perfecting dual-wielding.

Kirito was one such person that was actually competent enough to use dual-wielding; with good control, a player could use two separate Sword Skills in each hand, therefore allowing the player to create combos that normally weren't possible without using a predesigned Sword Skill found in the game.

_'Well, I'm still not level five yet,'_ she mused.

It was going to be a long night indeed.

[...]

Kirito walked smoothly into Horunka village; the noise of other players chattering and moving about could be heard all around. All of them were most likely beta testers just like her.

She headed towards Miriam's house and took quick glances of the other players - _filing their faces for recognition later_ - and noted that most of them were male players that were also taking a good look at her as she nonchalantly passed by them.

Perhaps she made an unusual sight because she had two weapons of the two-handed variety strapped to her back? There were definite whispers that wondered which beta-tester she was - _no doubt, one of the players who knew how to dual-wield proficiently_ - but she brushed aside those who had gathered the courage to actually confront her about it.

Knocking on the door, a rather unnecessary action, Kirito slowly opened it and entered the house; no other players were here, and certainly not Coper either. At the kitchen the NPC woman was stirring the pot as usual, above her head was a golden question mark which was the sign of a quest in progress.

"I have the ovule," Kirito said as she pulled out the Little Nepent's Ovule from her pouch; it was SAO's equivalent to the hotkey functions on keyboards, so it was a quick and easy method of storing and taking out smaller objects without opening her menu, and presented it to the quest-giver.

Miriam's face shone, "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, adventurer! Without this, I don't know what I would have done...! You have my gratitude, thank you!" the woman heaped praises upon praises before taking the item.

The NPC dropped the ovule into the pot, stirred briefly, and then headed on over to a large chest in the living room corner. She opened it and took out a sword which was holstered in a dirty red sheath, and promptly handed over the weapon to Kirito, "Here, this is the Anneal Blade, a sword that has been passed down my family for generations... May it serve you well, honorable adventurer."

"Thanks," Kirito replied as she took the blade. It was considered a One-Handed Sword, yet it was both long and heavy enough that it could easily be mistaken for a Two-Handed Sword. Her quest log updated again, marking down Secret Medicine Of The Forest (Horunka) as Completed, and an additional window appeared detailing the bonus EXP and Col that she was also rewarded with.

She stashed away both of her Longswords and kept the Anneal Blade as her new primary weapon. Tomorrow she would visit the blacksmith NPC to enhance the sword to +2 with her large amount of raw material; a player blacksmith would have been more preferable but it was highly unlikely that anybody had the General Skill Smithery at a level high enough to have a success rate better than an NPC yet, so Kirito simply had to deal with the expensive services of the NPC for now.

Kirito lost track of time as she sat on the couch and watched Miriam contently stir the pot, eventually the woman took out a small wooden bowl and poured the content of the pot into it. The NPC carefully walked to the room of her sick daughter and Kirito followed as she was rather curious about who the girl was since, during beta, it was impossible to enter the child's room.

Kirito quietly walked into the small bedroom.

Sleeping soundly was a little girl, probably no older than seven or eight, with ruffled brown hair. Her name read _Agatha_ and her body was thin with a pale tone. Her eyes slowly fluttered opened as the aroma of the medicine wafted in the air. The young girl weakly looked at her mother and then to Kirito, "A guest...?" she quietly voiced.

"Yes," Miriam said softly, "This is the adventurer who worked really hard to bring us this medicine."

The girl lightly smiled and Kirito smiled back.

Suddenly, Agatha burst into a cough fitting and her mother soothingly stroked her back. As the coughing died down, Miriam spoke again, "Drink this," and slowly moved the bowl over to her daughter's lips.

Agatha drank the medicine slowly and soon finished the entire bowl. She was looking better already as a small amount of color returned to her face.

_'Only for now,'_ Kirito thought to herself. She knew that, as soon as she left, the young girl would go back to being sick for the sake of the next player wanting to complete this quest - that was simply just how MMORPGs worked. She quickly threw away that negative thought, _'Such heavy thinking isn't for me...'_

Agatha smiled brightly, "Thank you, big sis."

That sweet voice caused Kirito's throat to choke up. At that moment, Agatha reminded her so much of her own little sister, Suguha.

There was once a day, a long time ago during elementary school, when Suguha had gotten really sick and Kirito was in charge of taking care of her since neither their mother nor their father were home that day. She had listened to every one of Suguha's tiny whim and, at the end of it all, Suguha thanked her with the same simple and pure smile.

"...No, thank you..." Kirito quietly said and turned around, "Get well soon," and walked away.

Kirito realized that she was not afraid of dying.

She only feared being unable to meet her family ever again.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I will definitely be putting my own personal touches to most of the game mechanics and stuff.

And just to note, Dual Blades is a Unique Sword Skill that gives bonuses for holding two swords and also comes with special Sword Skills. However, Kirito using two swords right now is just her using two swords; it is not Dual Blades.

So Slant and Horizontal (and stuff) are considered One-Handed Sword Skills. For this story, they're just basic Sword Skills and any weapon can use it, though some better than others of course.

* * *

**Review Notes C1**

Victory3114, Kirito is abit of a tom-boy. As for the username, it's Kirito based on her name KIrigaya RIka, and the TO was added since she generally plays male-characters and because three-syllables sounds better than two.

bakapervert, Klein and Kirito's relationship is going to be like brother and sister.


	3. Beginning Anew In The Starting City

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Chapter Three

_Beginning Anew In The Starting City_

_[Remnant Connections]_

* * *

First Stratum. November 2022.

Kirito grumbled to herself, she had long delayed this for a while now, and her apprehension had once again made her try to convince herself at the dead of night. But she really, seriously, needed to check and couldn't put this off any longer.

Gingerly, she manipulated her menu and brought up her Friend's List.

With a gulp and a lick of her lips, her eyes gazed at it. When her mind finally processed the information, she let out a relieved breath that she didn't know she was holding.

Klein's name was still there - _meaning he had not removed her_ - so he was still definitely alive. A few quick taps later she opened up the option to check on the samurai's position: he was currently at the Starting City.

Kirito lightly smiled, _'He's still there...'_

It was nearing the fifth day since the death game began and Kirito had already completed a majority of the things she had set out to do. Now, it was time for her to meet up with the first player that she had ever met and befriended in SAO; she had promised herself, and him, that they would definitely meet again.

She was both wary and excited to see the red-haired man once again; even though it was only five days, it felt like it had been five months since they had last met one another.

Opening up the message box she left Klein a message:

"Let's meet at the central plaza."

[...]

It was early morning; the sun was barely rising and so dyed the world in an orange and red hue.

There, sitting on a bench in the central plaza, was Kirito who had arrived early - _not that she had specified a time to meet, but she could wait since she had nothing better to do_ - and was idly passing the time by watching the couple dozens of other players that roamed about with forlorn faces and sluggish movements.

She guessed that probably around eighty-five percent of the population was still here and refused to leave the Safe Zone of the Starting City. It was a rather depressing knowledge to know that so many players, so many _people_, were simply wasting away in the confines of the digital city.

Though she had spotted a few groups outside hunting the Frenzy Boars, those players were the small exceptions from the norm. The fear of death was a mighty deterrent to those who wished to escape. _'We're slowly rotting away...'_ she grimly thought.

"KIRITO!"

A familiar voice called out loudly and caught her attention. Kirito turned her head and the image of a person dressed in red was running towards her, right behind that person was also a group consisting of five others.

He had slightly better equipment now but his appearance was still the same as she had remembered. Klein, with his spiky reddish-brown hair and a small bearded stubble, stared at her with emotional brown eyes. "Kirito...!" He gazed upon the girl as though she was an illusion that would soon disappear. The man was truly at a lost for words, "...Welcome back," was what he finally settled on.

"Mmh," she hummed, "It's nice to see you again, Klein." She gave him a light smile which he returned with a big grin.

Kirito stood up from the bench as a group of people arrived. They were all older men, just like Klein, being at least five years her elder. These were the people that Klein could not abandon during the first day of SAO and true friends that he would risk life and limb to protect; they, too, were equally prepared to lay down their life in defense of one another.

She could easily see the strength of their friendship just by looking at them and, in a way, she was a little envious of that.

"Kirito, let me introduce you to my pals," Klein pointed to the group who all responded with various forms of hello. "This is Dynamm," the player had a clean small moustache and stubble, wore a red bandana wrapped over his head, and used a sword and buckler combo. "This guy is Harry One," this player was the tallest but youngest looking of the group and appeared to be going for a tank-build.

"Dale," he introduced the shortest and roundest player who had a tiny afro and was equipped with a two-handed sword. "Kunimittz," the man seemed to be the closest to Klein's own age and had his own stubble, his weapon was a spear. "And this is Isshin!" the last member was the second tallest person but also the thinnest of the group and had a spear in his hand.

Klein then gestured to her, "Guys, this is Kirito, the player who taught me how to play SAO."

Kirito nodded at them and they chuckled, smiled, or nodded back as well. They were friendly, but they were just friends of a friend; it was a bit hard for her to interact with them without knowing them better.

So she turned to the red-headed man, the only person she knew well enough, "How have you been?"

"Been fine," Klein chirped his answer, "Mostly just hunting those nasty boars everyday."

"I see... Well, let's find somewhere to eat and catch up," Kirito suggested and then walked off without waiting for an answer.

"Sure thing," the samurai nodded and simply followed along, Come on, guys, let's go!"

[...]

The group of players found themselves settling into a generic NPC-run restaurant. The menu was extremely basic, consisting of mostly bread, noodles, and a few drinks. There was nobody inside the building besides the two NPCs - _the chef and waitress_ - and them.

"Order anything you like, I'm paying," Kirito's statement was so blunt that the older men couldn't refuse her. They all graciously chose to spend little - _ordering a light meal and a cup of water_ - and she herself just wanted sweet tea.

"So, Kirito, what have you've been up to these past few days?" Klein started curiously. Even though he had always checked his Friend's List everyday for Kirito's name, the two of them had never sent the other a private message and keep in contact; it was a silent agreement that the two would talk when they would meet again, face-to-face, five days later.

She took a sip of her drink before speaking, "After had I left the Starting City, I went around completing quests for Col and EXP," she quickly brought up her menu and sent a trade to Klein, "and also to find an apology gift."

Klein gasped, "Wha... this is...!" He was looking at the One-Handed Curved Sword, Black Wolf Sabre, a rare item drop located on the Level 6 Black Wolf in the 1st Stratum. Unlike most RPGs, Sword Art Online did not have level nor stats requirement to equip an item, so it was entirely possible for a even a Level 1 player to be using higher-level stratum gear as long as he or she could get it.

Kirito smiled at the man's not quite so hidden joy. She had a strong inkling that Klein preferred curved-swords because he was trying to appear like a noble samurai of some kind, therefore types like the Sabre, Scimitar, or Cutlass were the best choices as weapons to give him as they were the closest in designs to a Katana - which may or may not exist in SAO.

"Kirito, I can't take this!" He finally stated. As a person, he was the kind of guy that preferred giving gifts than receiving them; this was especially true concerning Kirito who was clearly his cute junior - _though, in reality, their roles were in reverse because she was his senior in terms of SAO-experience_. She merely glared at him darkly, clearly not taking _no_ for an answer. "Ugh... uh... A-Alright! I accept, I accept!" He weakly completed the trade and his friends all chuckled at his expense.

"Hard to believe that they had only known each other for a couple of hours," Harry One whispered to the group.

"Yeah, they really get along," Kunimittz agreed.

"Like brother and sister," Dale commented.

Kirito took another sip of her tea and then spoke slowly, "Klein... what do you plan to do now?"

The player opened his mouth and then stopped when the waitress and chef walked over to the table with their meals. When the NPCs had left, Klein spared his friends a glance, "You guys can eat first, I'll do the talking," after receiving their nods he continued, "Well, you see, Kirito... We've decided to fight and get out of here. So, we need to get much stronger to beat this death game."

"There's a chance you'll die if you leave the Starting City," Kirito quickly warned, she knew where this conversation was heading, "Are you and your friends truly prepared to take that risk?"

"Yeah," Klein responded seriously in a crisp tone, "We're the kind of guys who just don't like to sit around and do nothing. That's why I know this is shameful and a lot to ask, but please, Kirito, can you help us train?"

Kirito gazed into her cup. Her answer would decide the fate of these men. She wanted to refuse them and leave them be, but she knew that even without her they would continue on and forge ahead. If something happened to them then it would indirectly be her fault._ 'Nonsense, you owe them nothing. Whatever they do is their own choice. Let them do whatever they want.'_ She shook her head to get rid of the apathetic thinking.

"Alright," she answered softly. With those simple words they were her responsibility now, their lives and futures were in her hands.

Klein, Dynamm, Harry One, Dale, Isshin, and Kunimittz bowed their head, "Thank you; we'll be in your care."

"Likewise..." Kirito wryly smirked and then finished her drink in one final gulp, there was no point in letting the fear weigh her down, "You guys better hurry up and finish eating because we're leaving now." She stood up and moved towards the counter to pay. With the exchange done, Kirito turned around and sweetly yet devilishly smiled at them, "Oh, and don't thank me yet, the fun part has yet to begin."

They all felt a chill run down their spine.

_'You're right, Klein, she's really scary!'_

_'I told you guys so!'_

"Hm, oh? Before I forget, take these," Kirito swiftly sent a trade to everybody, including Klein again, and they all froze at the items she was simply giving out to them.

"W-What the heck?! So much?!" Isshin raised his voice, "Sharp Edge Trident, Smooth Leather Boots, and Smooth Leather Vest?!"

"Hard Buckler, Black Iron Blade, and Steel Chestplate," Dynamm stated his items.

"Gray Wolf Gauntlet?!" Klein said in awe, "K-K-Kirito! What is all this?!"

"These are all just random items that I picked up during the past few days," she responded disinterested, "I don't need them, so I was just going to sell them. Since that's the case, then it would be better if I just gave them to you and your friends; they're certainly better than anything you might have found dropped from a Frenzy Boar." Kirito glared at them sharply, "You will take them, won't you?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am..." They meekly replied, exchanging wry chuckles amongst each other, and accepted their trades.

"Well, let's get going then," said the commanding raven-haired girl.

[...]

It was an unusual sight to see a group of grown men follow sheepishly behind a young teenage girl as they headed somewhere together. Or at least that would have been the immediate impression if there were actually more players out and about the streets, but a majority of the players inside the Starting City did not have the energy nor motivation to move about.

"Klein, what level are you and your friends?" Kirito talked as she walked.

"We've been taking it slow and easy, so I'm Level 2 while the rest of the guys are Level 1 but we're all pretty close to leveling up again."

"And how good would you say you're all at with using Sword Skills?"

"Uh... We're still getting the hang of it," Klein scratched his chin.

"I see, so you haven't gotten used to the auto-guidance or cooldown yet. Well, don't worry about it, you and your friends will get the feel for it eventually."

The group of players arrived at the market area - _the bazaar_ - of the Starting City. Since nobody currently had the money to open up their own private store, it was in this area that other players would sell their services and goods to the masses.

Expectedly, the area was extremely bare and there were hardly any other players here. Whether it was buying or selling there was simply no demand and very little profit to be made when everybody could make due of whatever they needed within the relative safety of the city.

"What are we doing here?" Klein asked. The last time he was here was when Kirito was giving him a tour of the city on the first day; it was empty then and it was pretty much still empty today.

"There's a player I'm looking for, though I'm not sure if they're here or not," she answered.

"Not sure if they're... You mean you met them during the beta?"

"Yes," Kirito confirmed, "They were an Information Broker and knew almost everything and anything there was to know about Sword Art Online during the beta testing."

"And you think that person is here in the market?"

"Well, that's if they're still in the city, anyways."

Klein nodded with a grin, "No point in worrying if they might be here or might not be, we can just deal with that after we at least tried searching for them. So what does this player look like?"

Kirito sighed, "It'd be rather pointless to look for them by their previous avatar and I don't know what he or she would look like now."

"O-Oh, right." Since everybody now had their true appearance, it would be nearly impossible to figure who was who. The older man scratched the back of his head, "Then how do we find them?"

"Nishishishi, you don't have to worry your fiery-red head about that," an unknown voice responded to Klein's question and the group turned around to face the speaker.

Only a short distance away from where they were standing was an approaching player. It was a girl, around the same age as Kirito but perhaps a bit older, dressed in the basic leather equipments and a hooded cloak that gave the sense that the player was a bit of a traveler. She had short golden-brown hair with rich brown eyes and sported three dull red marks, whiskers, on both sides of her cheeks.

A twinkle sparkled in Klein's eye and he walked straight up to the girl, "Hello, my name is Klei-" but she simply walked right past him and he froze on the spot. Kunimittz and Dynamm came over and merely patted him on the shoulder.

"Better luck next time, Klein," Kunimittz said to his stiff friend.

"Hey, there! Heard you were looking for me, Ki-bou," the newcomer said with a playful grin.

"So, the lanky and shady looking guy, Argo The Rat, was really a girl," Kirito commented, "What a surprise."

"Oh? Am I hearing those words coming from the person whose avatar used to be such a cut-throat thug?"

Kirito snorted and spoke pleasantly, "...It's really nice to see you again, Argo."

"I was looking for you too, Ki-bou. I was wondering where my favorite customer was!" the information broker said with a grin. She placed a hand on her hip, "So, what do you need to know?"

Kirito sent the other girl a trade, "I'm looking to sell off all of these for a good sum of Col. So I want you to find me some buyers."

"Oh-ho, I see you've been grinding quite a bit; just like the old days," Argo smirked, "So how much is my finder's fee?"

"Fifteen-percent," the two-handed sword user answered immediately.

"Nishishishi, how generous of you, Ki-bou," Argo then completed the trade, "Alright, I'll let you know when all of it has been sold," and she next sent a friend's request that was also readily accepted, "Stay in touch, Ki-bou."

"I will."

"By the way..." Argo moved close enough to sling an arm over the other player's shoulder, "I thought you didn't like working in groups," her eyes flitted from Klein and his friends and then back to Kirito, "Why the change of heart?" she said with an insinuating sneer.

"...I don't like older men," Kirito stated flatly.

"I didn't say you did," the Rat replied in a sing-song tone, "But I'll be sure to take note of that for future reference, Ki-bou. Nishishishi."

"Whatever," Kirito sighed out. She was somewhat used to Argo's antics since their time together during beta. The two of them had a pretty good friendship then and, as far she was concerned, the two of them were still good friends. _'I guess I do have a friend apart from Klein...'_ she realized; Argo was someone that Kirito could easily entrust her life with. "So, what do you plan to do now, Argo?"

The golden-haired girl snickered, "Nishishishi, well, Ki-bou, I'm already spending a good portion of my free-time to write a book. In fact, it'll be published tomorrow in all the NPC stores of the Starting City."

"A book, huh? About what?" She could already imagine what kind of book it was though; definitely something that befitted the Rat's status as a reliable information broker.

"Nishishishi," Argo rubbed her fingers, "1000 Col."

"No thanks," Kirito waved off, "I can wait. I'm not _that_ interested," and inwardly mused to herself, _'You'll probably make me pay for a copy of my own anyways.'_ Kirito paused and spoke more quietly, "By the way, I have another request."

"Ah, business is booming," the Rat jokingly commented then spoke in more a hushed voice, "You've got that look on your face, the one where you're thinking about humiliating someone real bad. Whose on your mind, Ki-bou?"

"I'm looking for a player by the name of '_Coper'_."

"Hmm, I'll keep an ear open for it," Argo winked and giggled, "Well then, bye-bye, Ki-bou. See you around!" and took off, disappearing into one of the many alleys of the bazaar.

"See you around," Kirito lightly waved goodbye. _'If there's anyone that will survive this death game... it's her.'_ She let her eyes linger at the spot Argo had disappeared from for a short moment. "Alright then," she turned around, "Let's get started on your training now."

Klein sniffed his nose and quietly whimpered, "Y-Yeah... Lead the way, Kirito..."

[...]

"HAAA!" Klein shouted as he performed a Linear - _a Sword Skill that was essentially a powerful thrust_ - on a Frenzy Boar, wiping away the rest of the monster's HP. The man took in a breath and then turned to his instructor, "How'd I do?" He was the last person of the group to be tested.

Kirito hummed, "Well, better then when I had seen you last, but here's a tip: Don't use Linear."

"Huh, why?"

"Klein, do you know what the four types of weapon damages are in SAO?"

"Uh... No."

She turned to face the rest of Fuurinkazan - _a guild-name that the group apparently used often in other video games when they played together_ - and asked them, "Do any of you?" The older men simply shook their head. "Listen up then. The four types of weapon damages are Blunt, Slash, Thrust, and Pierce," she eyed Klein, "Linear is a Thrust/Pierce type, and your weapon, the Black Wolf Sabre, is a Curved Sword, therefore a Slash type."

Klein shuffled his hands in front of him, "Wait, wait, wait! What does that all even mean?"

Kirito exhaled a deep breath, "It apparently means that we're going on a field trip."

"Say what?" Dale voiced.

"You're all newbs," she stated bluntly to them and they winced, "You don't know the basic mechanics of SAO and that could prove fatal here. That's why we're all going to visit the Bibliotheca."

"And that's...?" Klein questioned. He couldn't pronounce the strange English-spoken word and didn't bother trying to fumble over it.

"A library," she answered.

Isshin quirked a brow, "I didn't know SAO had those."

"It's the equivalent to a Help Desk or FAQ in other games, since SAO doesn't have a proper tutorial level to teach you how to play."

"We've walked through the Starting City plenty of times before and I don't think any of us have seen it," Dynamm stated curiously.

"Not marked on our maps either," Kunimittz added.

Kirito folded her arms, "But have any of you actually explored the Starting City? Like _really_ explore it?"

Fuurinkazan looked at each other. "Nope," they all answered together.

"Thought so. Well, all those houses and buildings in the Starting City isn't just for show; you can enter each and every single one of them." She got a_ 'Wow'_ from Harry One and a_ 'Seriously?'_ from Klein. "Most of them are nothing important, but some them are - like the Bibliotheca for example - and won't be marked unless you visit them personally or someone gives you the map-data."

"Besides the library, is there anything else in the Starting City?" Kunimittz asked.

"There's the grand prison; Black Iron Fortress, the grand hospital; Healer's Clock Tower, and the royal castle; Boleteria."

Klein scratched his chin, "Hospital? Can we get sick in this game?"

"If you count getting Poisoned or Paralyzed as being sick, then yeah, you _can_ get sick," Kirito shrugged her shoulders, "It's also possible to literally disarm another player, and a hospital is the only place to regenerate lost limbs."

"Y-You can lose limbs?!" Klein gulped.

"It doesn't hurt that badly," she remarked coolly, which only made the man grimace at the confirmation that pain was indeed involved.

Harry One raised his hand, "Besides losing our arms-"

"And legs," Dynamm reminded.

"-can't we just use an Antidote to cure Poison or Paralysis instead of visiting a hospital?"

Kirito nodded, "You can, but Antidotes only work for basic status ailments, otherwise you would need Greater Antidotes or Pure Antidotes for the more advance ailments, and even then those won't cure some of the more troublesome afflictions. For example, on the First Stratum there's a rare Level 6 monster called Tri-Horned Caterpillar and the tips of its horns is laced with a powerful poison. Using any kind of Antidote only slows down the damage, so you'll need to visit a hospital to actually get rid of it."

"Sounds nasty," Isshin grimly commented.

"It is," her lips turned downward slightly, "According to what I heard once from Argo, the Tri-Horned Caterpillar's poison can lower the level of the Pain Absorber."

"P-Pain Absorber?" Klein muttered even more disturbed.

She looked at him, "Klein, do you remember the first time you got hit by a Frenzy Boar?"

The red-haired samurai cringed, "Urgh, yeah." He distinctly recalled that nose-butt had sent him flying and rolling.

"And how much did that hurt?"

"...Uh, not a whole lot now that I think about."

Kirito nodded. "That's the Pain Absorber, it's a feature meant to control how much pain a player can feel. Generally, it's not something detrimental enough to make you stop fighting; maybe only enough to make you wince and be aware that you've been hit. However, the exception to that are status ailments which can heighten the pain felt." She paused to let it all sink in, "And the Tri-Horned Caterpillar's poison drops the Pain Absorber by two."

"Oh. OH! Oh..." Klein understood the implication that getting poisoned by that monster would be a severely bad idea. "That's bad, Kirito. Real bad."

"Don't worry though. Your training won't be anywhere near their spawn-area." The older men sighed in relief from her statement. "Well, enough chatting. It's time for you guys to hit the books."

[...]

The perimeter of the Starting City was that of a large circle - _as most cities in Sword Art Online were; they were rarely in the shape of squares or anything else_ - and was large enough to contain easily over five times the current player-population all at once with still plenty of room to spare. By a player's map, it could be easily seen that the Starting City was separated into about three primary districts: the north, the west, and the east.

To the north there was Boletaria which, according to the lore of Sword Art Online, was the royal palace of the Titanslayer family who were the first to settle and establish their presence on Aincrad. Eventually they had called forth adventurers -_ in other words, the players_ - to conquer the floating labyrinth. Meanwhile, to the west was Black Iron Fortress run by the warden NPC Arthas and his faithful soldiers and guards, and, finally, to the east stood the Healer's Clock Tower established by the Virtuous Order.

The sole Bibliotheca - _not owned by the Titanslayer or the or the Virtuous Order_ - of the Starting City could be located in southern-center of the eastern district. The building itself was not drastically different from its neighbor - _its only sign-mark, a book, revealed its different status_ - and could be easily overlooked for another generic structure.

"Welcome!" The chipper female NPC greeted Fuurinkazan and Kirito as they entered, "How may I be of assistance?" She had brown twin-braided hair, freckles, green eyes, and wore square glasses. The name _Louise_ was below her yellow cursor.

"We're fine," Kirito answered as she moved further into the building. Though, she had not notice that Klein was actually holding up the rest of the group by introducing himself to the NPC.

"Hey there, my name is Klein!"

"Hello, Sir Klein. My name is Louise and I'm the librarian of this little place," she answered informatively.

Fuurinkazan collectively groaned and simply pushed their way inside, leaving their leader to his idle devices.

"This place... is pretty small," Harry One commented. The size of the library was probably only able to hold about twenty other players. "It's more like a bookstore than a library."

"Why's there only one library in this big city anyways?" Dale questionably asked but went unanswered.

The men dispersed themselves, taking various random spots, to provide a bit more breathing room and space for one another. Kunimittz had the unfortunate luck of walking into Kirito's direction and was dragged around to help carry the many books she was pulling out from the shelves.

Eventually the group was called over to a small table.

_'Is this going to be a thing?'_ Kirito thought to herself as she saw Klein chatting awkwardly with the NPC woman. She clearly remembered the day that they had met and the moment where Klein seemed to just glow with positive energy when she had mentioned that she had a younger sister - apparently the guy really wanted a girlfriend. "Klein, get over here," she spoke loud enough to immediately grab his attention.

"R-Right; I'll be right there!" the samurai answered. He muttered an apology to Louise before breaking away and arriving at the table. He wryly eyed the desk full of stacks of books.

Kirito gestured to said books, "Here, I want all of you guys to read these books."

Klein randomly shifted through the pile, "Forms and Motion: Sword Skills Technique Guide - Basic Edition. Combat: Weapons Guide - Basic Edition. Illnesses: Status Afflictment Guide - Basic Edition..." He groaned without reading the rest of the titles, "All of them?"

"All of them," she replied sternly. _'Knowledge is power,'_ though she didn't feel like expressing that in words; even if they couldn't memorize everything, reading would at least make them a little bit more aware of where they stood on the food-chain.

Dynamm smoothly reached out and picked up a book, Monsters and Beasts: Behavior Guide - Basic Edition, and flipped through the pages - _though players also had the option of simply reading through a panel-screen instead_ - he had an aura of a well-learned scholar.

Kirito nodded in approval and then turned to looked at the rest of Fuurinkazan with a sharp glare. "Well?"

Kunimittz, Dale, Harry One, Isshin, and Klein quickly picked up their books and started reading.

[...]

"Ah! This is so boring!" Klein moaned out as he flicked away the floating screen of his most recently finished book, Body Training: Stats Guide - Full Edition, "How long have we been here just sitting and reading?"

"Thirty minutes?" Dale hazarded a guess.

"Seriously?! Feels like its been two hours now!"

"Well, have any of you read a total of five books yet?" Kirito asked as she tapped her finished pile of five books; she didn't so much as read - _since she already had her fill of knowledge back in beta_ - as she did skim but that was good enough.

Most of the men shook their heads, the most they had read was about three books each. The exception though was Dynamm who closed his fifth book and quietly nodded his head.

"Good, then its time about for it to start."

"_It_?" the red-haired samurai questioned.

"A quest."

Louise walked over to their table with a smile, "My, my, you all are certainly enthusiastic about reading!" Above her head was a golden exclamation mark.

"Huh, what? I don't remember accepting a quest yet," Klein stated confused as he checked that his quest-log had somehow suddenly and automatically updated with the quest for 'Reading Books (Starting City)'.

Kirito explained, "This is a Trigger Quest, which means it only appears in the right conditions. In this case, after someone has finished reading five books," she placed out a hand to stop Klein from asking his other question, "And for some Trigger-Quests, the trigger is also the quest-requirement. Again: reading five books."

"Oh, okay. So what now?"

The two-handed swordswoman sighed and then turned to face the librarian, "Yes, it was a nice learning experience." She finally answered the question that was left hanging for too long now.

Louise smiled, "I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves." The NPC walked over to her desk and pulled out several books from the shelf behind it, "This is a free book that is given to those adventurers who find joy in gaining new knowledge. Here, help yourselves."

"Thank you," Kirito said as she took a book for herself.

The members of Fuurinkazan looked at each other before taking their own copy. "Thanks," they all told the librarian and promptly received their EXP and Col reward for completing their quest.

"Encyclopedia: Aincrad," Isshin read out the title as he flipped through the book.

The NPC adjusted her glasses, "It's a magical self-writing book that records nearly everything seen in Aincrad. It was created by the Master Librarius to help adventurers when exploring the strata," and bowed lightly, "Safe journeys to you all, and may you fill your book with wonderous knowledge, adventurers."

[...]

"Now what?" Klein asked. Kirito had given him and his friends a copy of her immense Encyclopedia Data -_ it was filled to the brim with her previous and accumulated five day journey_ - and they were now all just sitting around inside a restaurant while eating their meals and occasionally - _or at least Dynamm was_ - looking through the book.

"Well, there's honestly not much quests here in the Starting City worth doing," the girl hummed, "Maybe one or two."

She had in mind: 'The Retired Warrior (Starting City)' which rewarded a player with a basic two-hit Sword Skill and 'A Healer's Request (Starting City)' which gave a permanent discount towards future purchases of Potions or Antidotes; both were decent choices but not really anything that needed to be immediately prioritized.

Most quests simply didn't provide big rewards that couldn't be gotten just by stocking up on spare weapons and potions and then grinding out in the fields. In fact, for the early strata it was simply better for a player to ignore quests and focus on leveling up as high as they could get -_ the strongest regular monster on the 1st Stratum was the Level 7 Dire Wolf and the Level 8 Kobold Minion, so EXP would begin to wane for a player around Level 10 or 11_ - and afterward a player could then complete quests and receive the full EXP reward.

This was something that Kirito was actually planning to do later on, since hunting monsters barely affected her experience bar now.

Klein mumbled, "Two, huh...? Guess it won't be too bad..."

"Don't worry, We'll be finished before the sun goes down," and she added, "The hard part comes tomorrow."

"The hard part, eh?" He lightly mused about it and then blinked, "You know, I forgot to ask but what's our training plan, Kirito?"

The girl sipped on her tea slowly before speaking, "Learn as we go. I'm going to teach you guys the fundamental and have you familiarize it until it becomes second nature. Hopefully, you'll all be Level 10 within the next two weeks."

"L-Level 10 in two weeks?!" the red-haired man stammered in surprise, "What's the rush, Kirito?!"

"It's almost been a week since SAO has launched... By now most of the beta-testers should have completed their safety-net," she stated soundly. For certain, she knew that she herself and Argo were comfortable at their current standings - _for now, that is_. "However, feeling and being safe is secondary to the underlying goal... What we all want, what we all _need_ to do, it's to escape Sword Art Online."

"Yeah... that's right," Klein nodded solemnly, "We're not fighting to level-up, we're leveling up so that we can continue to fight!"

Kirito agreed with his sentiments. "Yeah, so now that a majority of them have finished leveling-up, then the next task - naturally - is to find the boss room, so it'll only be a matter of time before it's found."

"I get the feeling you want us to be a part of the boss-raid, Kirito-san," Isshin stated his thoughts politely.

"_Us_?" Dale tensely piped up from the side-lines. He could barely handle Frenzy Boars, so he could hardly imagine fighting a boss two weeks from now; it was frightening.

Kirito sighed and spoke strongly, "No, I don't. I want to keep you guys safe, so if I had my way, then I wouldn't let any of you fight the boss, at all."

"So we why do we need to be at Level 10?" Dynamm spoke in a very questioning tone.

The raven-haired girl licked her lips from indecision to speak. It was a purely selfish reason; she wanted the resources - _the rewards_ - that came from beating a boss. Kirito knew it was completely unreasonable but she simply couldn't help but feel insecure and had the urge to keep getting numerically stronger; her safety-net was fine for now but it needed to expand sooner or later.

As much as she wanted to be friends with Klein, as much as she wanted to trust him and his friends, in the end she was still looking out primarily for herself. Level-up, fight, and survive; her constant-drive could be summed up as such.

"Kirito, tell us," Klein softly urged.

She winced at his gentle voice. After a long silence, she looked at each of them straight in the eyes and answered as firmly as possible with a few simple choice words, "No matter what, when the boss room is discovered, I plan on being part of the raid."

Fuurinkazan pondered over her words before they realized what the younger girl had left unsaid:_ 'If I don't survive then at least you guys will be a high enough level on the First Stratum to take care of yourself.'_

Klein visibly frowned and clenched his fist. "Kirito," he called out seriously, "We're friends, right? And you know what friends do?" He tapped his chest, "They help each other! That's what friends are for! Kirito, when the day comes, you're not going alone! And do you know why? That's because we're gonna be there too!" Klein knew that all his words were corny and sappy but what truly mattered was that he was getting his point across. "Believe in us, Kirito, because we're going to be friends until the end!"

Kirito paused as she took in the man's word with a slightly stunned expression. Slowly her face loosen up and she started laughing happily while Klein waited patiently for her answer. "Thank you, Klein," she replied sincerely with up-turned lips. There was just something about him that made it easy to feel comfortable and safe. "I'm really glad that you were my first friend in SAO."

The samurai's face was red as his hair as he turned his head around and spoke in a flustered voice, "O-Of course! Same here!"

"Hey now, that's pretty rude! What about us? Right, guys?" Harry One teased. An_ 'Indeed'_ could be heard added in by Kunimittz.

"Oh shut up! You guys know what I meant!" Klein began to playfully bicker with the rest of Fuurinkazan.

Kirito finished the rest of her tea and watched the friendly scene before her in peace. She had not shown it all day but gathering the courage to meet Klein again was a mentally exhausting task for her - _absolutely draining and nerve-wracking_, so without even knowing Kirito quietly nodded off and fell asleep on her chair.

* * *

**Author Notes**

I suck as making names, so I tend to borrow them from other works... Say hello to 'Boletaria' from Demon Souls! And I am making up Fuurinkazan's personality as I go... I also have a feeing that I end my chapters rather badly...

Minor mechanic stuff: As a player levels up, the Experience Points required to level-up increases, likewise, the EXP earned by fighting monster decreases against lower-leveled enemies; meaning a player will have to constantly fight even or stronger monsters to gain EXP. If a player fights a monster that is signficantly stronger than them (Magenta or Red Cursor) and defeats it, then they get bonus EXP. In word others: EXP is consistently scaled. The exceptions are Quests and Bosses who always give the same amount of Full EXP and bonus if applicable.

* * *

**Review Notes C2**

Ourania Aella, I'll keep the name-the-same thing in mind, but it probably won't come up since players mostly keep to themselves about in-real-life stuff.

Kojiro Kun, Asuna will be female. I don't know why but I felt like doing a 'You have two moms!' relationship with Yui, Asuna, and Kirito.


	4. The First Gathering Of Heroes

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Chapter Four

_The First Gathering Of Heroes_

_[War, Glory, And Honor]_

* * *

First Stratum. November 2022.

One day a strange book appeared on the open-shelves of the NPC-owned stores all around in the Start City.

It was a guide-book - _a manual_ - to the ins-and-outs of the First Stratum. The cover on the book was adorned by a rat-like insignia of round ears; a triangle nose and six whisker marks, etched below the icon was the name 'Argo's Strategy Guide.'

The trapped players of Sword Art Online saw the book, bought the book, read the book, and rediscovered hope.

Within a few short days about 3000 players had left the safety of the Starting City with renewed purpose and strength in surpassing the death game.

[...]

First Stratum. Late November 2022.

There were many diverse fields and areas within each Stratum; the places that had even the hint of death were known as the 'Outer Areas' while the locations within the safety-zones of the villages and cities were known as 'Inner Areas.'

Outer Areas came in at least three flavors: the first type was the Outdoor-Fields - _such as the massive plains with the Frenzy Boars or the enormous forest with the Little Nepents_ - where players could just simply walk in-and-out were the most common of the Outer Areas. The second-type were Dungeons, they were basically huge and isolated areas - _generally of the cave-persuasion or the like_ - and could be quite numerous.

Then there was the third-type: the Labyrinth-Mazes.

These were the rarest Outer-Areas - _so rare that, even through six strata and hundreds of quests, only two were discovered to have been used as quest-locations during beta_ - as they were like Dungeons sharing the aspect of isolation, however were also like Outdoor-Fields in the sheer size of their territory, not to mention that they were quite time-consuming to clear out.

In fact, Labyrinth-Mazes were known by another name: Boss Dungeon.

The sheer scope of a Labyrinth-Maze's size were generally so layered that during beta they averaged nearly fifteen sections - _or 'Floors' as they were called_ - per Boss Dungeon with the Boss Room itself taking up an entire floor on its own.

Luckily for the players there was always a town established near Boss Dungeons for the sake of convenience, and these towns were known as 'Frontier Base.' In this case, the First Stratum's Frontier Base was the moderately-sized town known as _Tolbana_ and its Labyrinth-Maze was the ceiling-reaching _Tower Of Ruin,_ that could easily be seen almost anywhere, which connected the First Stratum with the Second.

In the near outskirts of Tolbana was a large plot of land with a lively ranch besides a clean and clear river and it was here that there was a two-story building owned by an family of NPC farmers. Most players during beta had never learn of this place due to Argo The Rat hiding its location, and the very few who did discover the ranch never did not find anything of value besides a small but extremely tedious quest.

It was this place that Kirito and Fuurinkazan were currently calling home; they -_ specifically Kirito, that is_ - had rented out the entire second-floor - _which consisted of one bedroom, one lounge room, and a bathroom_ - for a rather grand inexpensive sum of 120 Col, which was nearly the same amount that regular players would pay to rent out a small individual bedroom in the inns.

"Yo, Ki-bou, I've got some interesting news for you!"

Kirito raised a brow at Argo's statement, "Interesting? And how much is this going to cost me?"

The two girls were currently the only people residing in the bedroom - _which was for Kirito's personal use but could also double as a spare lounge room as it was quite spacious_ - with Kirito sitting on her bed while sorting out her inventory and Argo relaxing besides the windowsill.

Klein and his friends were out training on their own, of course they still were within the surrounding areas of Tolbana - _Kirito strictly forbid them entering the First Stratum's Labyrinth-Maze without her_ - so they were hunting the Level 7 wolf-type or the Level 5 and 6 insect-type monsters that spawned near Tolbana's Outdoor-Fields.

"Free of charge!" the information broker winked, "And that's because I've already been paid to spread the news!"

_'That's interesting,'_ Kirito noted, it wasn't everyday that people wanted advertisement. "So what's the news?"

"Nishishishi," the girl snickered, "A week from now..." she started slowly, "Someone is planning a boss raid! The meeting place is the town center of Tolbana, the theater next to the fountain."

Kirito eyes quickly widened. If things hadn't changed from beta, then the First Stratum's Boss Dungeon should be 20 Floors large but - _as far as she knew_ - everybody was only still exploring primarily around the 16th Floor. She narrowed her eyes and questioned, "Who?"

"It's Diabel; Diabel The Hero."

Since it has already been nearly three-weeks into SAO, there have been quite a few individuals who were making a name for themselves - _intentional or not_ - amongst the clearing population.

There were players like Shintouyu The Silent Knight, Klein The Red Comet, Heathcliff Of The Steel, Diabel The Hero, and Kirito The Dual Blader that often sprung up in conversations of 'the strongest players.'

"Diabel The Hero..." Kirito muttered in thought. He was a male player, of near or in his early-twenties, who was said to be both a very charismatic and thoughtfully kind person who was always ready to lend a helping hand to others in need. In a way, Diabel's name was so recognized that he could be considered the public-face of the clearing population for Sword Art Online.

Kirito and Fuurinkazan occasionally passed by Diabel and his crew - _Aces Of Stars, they called themselves_ - on the way in or out of the First Stratum's Boss Dungeon and even sometimes around Tolbana, but never did anything more than going out of their way to chat for a couple of minutes.

"So it's him, huh?" Kirito lightly commented. It wasn't that huge of a surprise anymore, Diabel was long-rumored to be the one who was going to lead the eventual boss-raid, as he was highly and widely considered the best leadership material around.

It was a bit odd that the man was calling for a meeting a week in advance, but that could either be because he was confident that he could find the boss-room soon enough or because he wanted to form the boss-raid group as soon as possible to wrinkle out the crinks in it.

"Heh," Kirito snorted and closed her inventory window. "Thanks for the news, Argo," she said as she got up and off the bed._ 'Looks like I need to pick-up Fuurinkazan and have another training session before this week is over.'_

It went without saying that Argo could expect Kirito's future attendance at the meeting; it was no secret to either of them that the Dual Blader was after the boss-rewards.

"Nishishishi, bye-bye then! See ya around, Ki-bou!" The Rat responded as she scurried off to further spread the news; no doubt she was going to be further paid for her services based on the amount of players that would show up at the meeting.

Hopefully the Hero had set up an upper-limit or he would soon find his pockets emptied out by the Rat.

[...]

First Stratum. December 2022.

Klein readied himself. His Black Wolf Sabre+4 gripped in right hand and slanted near his left waist with his left arm protecting his face, it was the 'Savage' stance that was the opening form of several One-Handed Curved-Sword Sword Skills. The blade glowed orange in preparation of Savage Horizon - _a horizontal strike but much more powerful than the basic Horizontal_ - which even ignored a small portion of the enemy's armor.

The monster snarled.

Red in coloration, covered in mostly leather and some metal armor, hunched over posture, and the size of the average human player. It was a monster known as a 'Kobold;' something between a cross of a fat humanoid rabbit mixed with a lizard or a very slim kangaroo - _either were apt descriptions_.

Kobolds were classified as 'Humanoid' within the Aincrad Encyclopedia, however they were also tagged with 'Weapon User;' that is to say, Kobolds were also absolutely capable of using Sword Skills, thus making them extremely dangerous monsters to face.

The aggressive monster, a Level 8 Kobold Minion, charged at the samurai with ruthless viciousness but was completely blinded with rage. Its own One-Handed Curve-Sword - _of the Cutlass-variety_ - shimmered in a bright purple for an over-stretched and wild Slant.

"DARYAH!" Klein shouted as soon as his lone opponent barely stepped into range; he used the delay of his swing and his opponent's momentum to set up the Kobold into the perfect position to taste the full force of steel. Klein's sword almost seemed to ignite in fire as it cleaved the Kobold Minion in two with the resistance of butter, immediately freezing the beast in blue before it quickly shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

He scanned the surroundings before sheathing his blade and giving out a sigh, "Whew! That was exhausting!"

Klein looked around once more but this time to check his team; Dale, Harry One, Kunimittz, Isshin, and Dynamm were all doing well as they fought with a single Kobold of their own.

The roar of a monster then drew Klein's attention and his eyes settled upon Kirito.

_'Strong,'_ he thought, _'She's really strong.'_

Even though Klein and Fuurinkazan were under the tutelage of Kirito, they very rarely actually saw her fight. She preferred to stay on the sidelines and let them personally experience the ways of battle, and only stepped in to correct mistakes or prevent someone's HP from falling deeply into the red-zone. Most of the time, Kirito simply disappeared to do some others things by herself, so today was a pretty unusual day to see the dual-blader actually participating in their training.

The Kobold Minion snarled in a feral stance, snapping its jaw at the girl, but in truth it was a cornered prey. A Weapon User without a weapon to use.

Kirito moved forward, the monster roared but was in no position to retreat, her two raised weapons -_ in her left hand was the Two-Handed Sword, Full Knight Longsword+4, and in her right hand was the One-Handed Sword, the Anneal Sword+6_ - both shone in either red or green. Swiftly, Slant and Slant struck the Kobold Minion together in the shape of an 'x', even with half its health left it was utterly obliterated by the combination attack.

That was an attack that Klein liked to call 'Cross Slash' for its shape.

_'Really amazing,'_ he thought, _'Really, really amazing.'_

The tactical programming of the Kobolds only had them using basic Sword Skills such as Slant, Horizontal, or Vertical, but the Humanoid monsters could also use Reaver for a surprise attack from a distance if they went undetected for too long. So these monsters made simple but still tough opponents on learning how to fight against other Sword Skill users, such as dodging or attacking in a blind-spot.

However, no one from Fuurinkazan would dare to parry -_ block and counter_ - the incoming Sword Skills with one of their own. That required finesse and proper timing that was completely beyond their league at the moment.

On the other hand, that was exactly what Kirito was doing - _minus the countering part of it_.

The girl would find a Kobold and catch its attention and let the monster send a Sword Skill her way. Then a Vertical would be met with a Horizontal, a Horizontal with a Vertical, or Slant with a Slant; a Sword Skill superbly stopped by another Sword Skill. Sometimes she would just outright disarm the monster of its limbs.

Because of her greater STR stat, every blocked hit would chip away at a small piece of the Kobold's health. Likewise, every hit did more damage to the Kobold's weapon's Durability than it did to Kirito's blades, meaning that after several exchanges the monster's sword would shatter.

Afterward it was simply a matter of cleaning up the weaponless Kobold.

That's why Klein thought Kirito was amazing. The girl didn't shy away from direct confrontation... yet, that was also the thing that worried him the most, because it was a riskier style of fighting. However, Klein had not called her out on it because he trusted her to not overdo things.

"Yo, Kirito!" Klein waved at the girl, "We've been at this for awhile now! What do ya say that we head back to town and rest up for tomorrow's meeting?"

She waved back in agreement.

Kirito sheathed her swords and took a look at the other members of Fuurinkazan. Each of them were almost done with their own opponent, so they could all gather up and leave in about five minutes from now.

The group of players were currently on the 18th Floor of the Tower Of Ruin and only Kobold-species enemies spawned up here this high - _such as the Level 8 Kobold Minions, the Level 7 Kobold Trooper, or the Level 6 Kobold Scout_.

Kirito hummed to herself as she walked over to Klein.

Klein was freshly at Level 10, while Harry One, Isshin, Dynamm, and Kunimittz were barely Level 9, and Dale should either be very close or will be become Level 9 during the return trip to Tolbana. She had planned for them all to reach Level 10 today, but the unexpected surge of players from the Starting City had slowed their EXP gain as the newer players scrambled quickly for all the hot-spots as well.

It wasn't a huge problem but hitting Level 10 would have opened up another Skill Slot to use.

Speaking of skills, Kirito was at Level 12 - _close to becoming Level 13_ - and had Two-Handed Swords at Lv68, Battle Healing at Lv39, and One-Handed Swords at Lv54.

Two-Handed Swords was easy enough to level up, as she always kept using a Two-Handed Sword - _first was the basic Longsword before picking up the Black Steel Claymore and then her current Full Knight Longsword_. All she needed to do was have a Two-Handed Sword equipped to increase the Weapon Skill.

Battle Healing was rather difficult to level up as it required her to lose health and then naturally regenerate it without using a potion. Overall, it was very time-consuming, no matter how she went go about losing her HP safely.

One-Handed Swords was something she picked up when she had reached Level 10 in the first week of Sword Art Online and was extremely easy to level up due to her dual-wielding -_ it wouldn't take very long before this Weapon Skill surpassed her starting Two-Handed Swords_.

In Sword Art Online, the Weapon Skills were extremely flexible.

For example: To get the full bonus of Two-Handed Swords then Kirito would need to wield a Two-Handed Sword in both hands. To get a large bonus she would simply need to use a Two-Handed Sword. And to get a partial bonus she would just need to hold a One-Handed Sword with two-hands.

In Kirito's opinion, this was not a loop-hole but something that was intentionally designed by _that_ man. He had practically created Sword Art Online from the ground-up on his own and it was extremely unlikely that such a major feature of the game had a glaring exploit like this.

Whatever the case, she was grateful for it.

Now, soon the members of Fuurinkazan were coming over to Klein and Kirito.

"Ah, I'm feeling beat!" Harry One groaned as he rolled his neck.

"I'm pretty famish," grunted Ishhin who received agreeing moans.

Dale swiped a hand on his forehead, "Where do you guys want to eat at? The Red Hood? The Pumpkin Bumpkin? I've feeling the Huff N' Puffin' Wolf myself."

"I'd rather get myself a drink!" as in the alcoholic-kind, chipped in Klein, "Let's go to the Dapper Jabber Glass!"

Dynamm looked at Kirito before answering, "We have an underage person with us."

"...But it's not like you can get drunk in SAO," hummed Kunimittz contemplatively as he rubbed his chin.

"No, no, it's fine, they also has kid drinks!" Klein instantly responded. For his trouble he got he a slap on the back of his head, courtesy of Kirito, "Ow!"

The girl snorted with a light smile, she often found herself smiling and involving herself in their silly antics now, "Come on, you guys can decide as we head down. Let's go."

[...]

The zings and pings of a Sword Skill charged the air through the loud snarls and roars of a monster.

"A-Amazing...!" Klein muttered as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"I didn't think anybody could attack that fast...!" mumbled Harry One.

Just off the road, there was a lone cloaked player - _colored primarily in red and brown_ - wielding a Rapier, and they were fighting against a Kobold Trooper. The monster would perform a regular three-hit-swing and the unknown player would simply dodge it all without a fuss. Right after that, they would charge in and strike the unbalanced Kobold with full strength and unleash a streaking Linear.

_'Like a shooting star,'_ Kirito idly noted. Rapiers were a type of One-Handed Sword built primarily for DEX and Piercing type attacks, meaning it was meant to be used for fast attacks such as Linear. However, Kirito had never seen anyone strike as quickly as this player did; she couldn't even see the sword, only the after-effects of the attack.

But despite the beautiful Linear, the movement of the actual player was very ragged and worn. Kirito placed a hand on the hilt of her Anneal Blade, ready to quickly intervene if necessary.

Rinse and repeat; the Kobold used a combo and the player counterattacked with a Linear, it continued this way for two more cycles before the already weakened monster finally turned pale blue and shattered into polygons. Finally the cloaked player wobbled over to a nearby wall before allowing themselves to collapse onto the ground in a huddled form.

Kirito let go of her sword and exhaled softly through her nose,_ 'They survived...'_

Klein crossed his arms, furrowed his brow, and grumbled under his breath.

"What's the matter?" Dale asked.

"Ah, I don't know," he huffed, "Something about that player is weird, is all."

"Solo," Dynamm stated shortly.

Isshin nodded his head, "Yeah, that's pretty odd. This is the Eighteenth-Floor, right? Then where's their party?"

"...Don't tell me...!" Dale gasped.

"Nah, nah! That guy is definitely a solo-player!" Klein barked out but further scrunched up his face in thought, "But something is wierd about them! It's on the tip of my tongue!"

Dynamm, Kunimittz, and Harry One took a look at Kirito, wondering if she had any idea about what Klein was talking about. It was somewhat strange that Kirito understood Klein's way of thinking more than his long-time friends did; on the other hand, she was their senior on matters pertaining to Sword Art Online - _even if it was rather vague in this case_.

The girl briefly closed her eyes before speaking, "Alright," she said loud enough to get their attention, "What do you guys think is the absolute number-one priority for a solo-player?"

The older men chatted with each other and eventually sent their representative, Klein, up to speak, "Is it being strong?"

"Wrong!" Kirito hand-chopped each of them on the head, "It's to know their limits! Because a solo-player has no partner to watch after them, they have to _always_ take great care of themselves." Her eyes peeked at the distant cloaked player before glaring back at Fuurinkazan, "That player... They're sloppy."

"Sloppy? How?!" Harry One blurted out, "I mean, that Linear of theirs was so... so, you know, _brilliant_!"

Kirito's lips curled downward slightly, "It doesn't matter how good their Sword Skill is, if they fight recklessly like that."

As expected, someone - _that is Klein_ - interrupted her, "Reckless? What do ya mean, Kirito?"

She growled at them, "Leave your questions until _after_ I'm finished," they nodded their heads repeatedly in panic, "Sloppy... Reckless..." Kirito slowly turned her head to look at the resting player and they followed her gaze, "Look at how exhausted that person is... since we can only get mentally tired in SAO, to get like that they would have to have been fighting for hours without taking a break until now."

Her mind briefly imagined a bloodless scene of shimmering but scattered polygons. "...The more exhausted you are then the easier it is to make mistakes... and the smallest of mistakes can lead to death."

Fuurinkazan gulped as the realization of her words sunk in.

Klein stared at the cloaked player with lights in his eyes. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks, "ALRIGHT THEN!" he roared loudly, "Here I go!" and ran toward the rapier-user, "OOOOOHHHHHHH!"

"H-Hey! Wait for us, Klein!" Harry One and Isshin called out, as they and the rest of Fuurinkazan followed behind the red-haired man.

Kirito smiled softly, _'That's just like him...'_ It seemed that, in his spare time, Klein would often go around helping other players. _'Do we have Quest Markers over our head?'_ She humored to herself. Klein almost acted like the protagonist of an RPG, what with his going around and assisting everybody with their troubles and all.

Trailing slowly behind them, Kirito arrived several minutes later. She could see very clearly that the resting player was purposely ignoring Klein who was running out of steam.

"And, ya know... ah... We'll be more than happy to help you and... stuff, um...! Ha... hahaha..."

Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan turn to face Kirito with mildly glum expressions.

The red-haired samurai weakly scratched the back of his head, "Y-Yo, Kirito..." and let out a sigh.

Kirito nodded at him and then chose to examine the hooded-player.

The brown cloak was ragged and worn, tattered all around the edges; the Durability most likely half-way depleted. The sheath of the rapier that hung on the hip was dirty, and the sword locked within was no doubt nicked and chipped. The player wore red fencer-equipment which had little armor and were in much better shape than their cloak.

An image of herself briefly superimposed itself on the form of the huddled player._ 'Would I have ended up like this, if I hadn't met Klein that day...?'_ she briefly wondered. Clicking her tongue at the thought, Kirito opened her mouth, "Hey, do you want to die?"

The shoulders of the fencer tensed for a moment, "Everyone will die anyways."

Kirito and Fuurinkazan blinked in surprise. The voice was tinged with a hidden resentment and it was low and hoarse, but it was undoubtedly on the feminine-side; the cloaked player was a girl - _a rare sight in all of Sword Art Online_.

The person continued, "One month... Two-thousand dead... yet the First Stratum is still unclear... It isn't possible to beat this game; Death... for us, it's only a matter of dying later or dying sooner..."

Klein opened his mouth to speak, to say something about how that grim statement was wrong, but Kirito placed a hand in front him and stopped him; nearly one-fifth of the player population was dead and not even one-percent of Sword Art Online was completed, that was the utter truth of the matter.

Still, regardless of that, Kirito gazed down hard at the other girl, "Do _you_ want to die?"

"...Everyone will die anyways," the ragged player repeated slowly.

"That's not what I'm asking; do _you_ want to die?"

"Everyone will di-"

"Then go jump off a ledge and kill yourself, you coward," Kirito spat out in disdain.

Everything froze for a moment from the vile statement.

"K-Kirito! What are you saying?!" Klein yelled at her. His hands grabbed her by the shoulders but she shrugged them off.

The cloaked girl trembled before rising slowly, "C-Coward...?" Her hands shakily reached out and gripped Kirito by the collar of her coat, "What do you want from me?" the girl growled, "What do you... expect me to do?!"

Kirito could see the empty hazel or amber-colored eyes under the hood as she glared back at them. She visibly scowled at the other girl, "Why are you asking me? What the hell do _you_ want to do?"

The girl shook with indignation and then abruptly let go of Kirito, "...Just leave me alone."

"I refuse," the dual-blader instantly retorted.

"I said leave me alone!" the fencer raised her dry voice.

"Not until you answer me!" Kirito returned fire, "Do you want to die or do you want to live?!"

The other girl paused and slowly started to walk away but before she could take even a step, Kirito merely charged and tackled her to the ground. The hood fell off to reveal a pretty face with beautiful eyes and chestnut colored hair, however it was marred by the weary yet glaring expression that the girl wore.

"I want to live!" the unknown girl suddenly but finally answered, "I... I want to live...!" she began to choke over her words as tears formed on the corner of her eyes, "I don't want to die, I want to go home, but I... I... what am I suppose to do?!"

"...Fight," Kirito replied softly with a determined expression, "Keep fighting and fighting and fighting, holding onto hope, until the day we will all escape Sword Art Online. All of us, together."

"T-Together?" the girl whimpered.

"Yeah, together, with us."

"...Why?" the girl uttered quietly.

"_Because,_ isn't fighting by yourself... really lonely and scary?"

"Ah..." the girl seemed to realize something as her tears began to stream down her face like waterfalls, her expression lost its stony exterior as her flushed cheeks became redder, and she cried even harder than before. She cried and cried until exhaustion caught up and fell asleep.

Kirito gave out a relieved sigh as she weakly rolled over to the side and landed with a plop on the ground; her legs felt like jelly and she couldn't stand. Two hands covered her face as she laughed wryly with odd hiccups in between.

"Kirito?" Klein mumbled in concern, "You alright?"

"Klein, I... I'm a really big idiot," Kirito simply stated. She knew that she wasn't the type of person to beat around the bushes and often tackled things head-on; she was very confrontational and that had sometimes got her into trouble in real life -_ she liked playing video games because her rough approach of things generally had less consequences due to the specifically designed choice/karma systems in them_.

"What the hell was I doing?" Everything could have gone wrong; the other player could have simply walked off or actually commit suicide because of her suggestion. However, Kirito couldn't stop herself because she saw herself in the miserable form of that girl. But, even if that wasn't the case, she would have stepped in anyways since Kirito was afraid of own humanity: what kind of person would she be if she had left that person alone on their own path to self-destruction?

So, if she failed, at least it wouldn't have been Klein's fault that the other player died, right?

Kirito laughed even more wryly.

"H-Hey, Kirito, it's alright," Klein was kneeling next to her, "It's alright. Everything is gonna be fine."

Her actions weighed down on her but those soothing words were the last thing Kirito heard before blacking out from exhaustion herself.

[...]

Kirito awoke to the soft comfort of her bed and pillow with the blanket draped over her body; she was back home at the farmer ranch in Tolbana. She blinked once then twice, as she noticed the quietly snoozing presence next to her. "Ah..." Kirito mumbled as she momentarily gazed at the fencer's sleeping face.

It mildly reminded her of the times when she and her sister, Suguha, slept together when they were much younger.

Gently getting out of bed, Kirito stretched her body as she looked out the reddish-orange tinted window, "It's afternoon, huh?" She checked the in-game clock to confirm that it was still the same day -_ it was_ - and yawned._ 'It's late... but I still have some things left to do.'_

She looked back at the rapier-user but it didn't seem like the other girl was going to wake up anytime soon.

Kirito left her room and went to the lounge area, inside there was only one other person who wasn't really doing anything except drawing on a piece of paper, and the opening of the door alerted them to her presence.

"Yo, Kirito, you're up!" the thin Isshin greeted with a smile, "Feeling okay now?"

She nodded, "Where's everybody else?"

"Ah, you know, making sure our weapons and armors are up-to-spec, selling off the spare loot, refilling our potions, chit-chatting with the other players; the usual. They should be back soon."

"Mmh..." she hummed; she wasn't sure how they had reacted to her sudden knock-out, but at least they weren't pointlessly coddling her while she was asleep. "What are you drawing this time, Isshin?"

"Another short-story, its a harem about a boy becoming a servant to a red-haired devil-girl since she saved his life from a fallen angel."

Ever since Isshin had heard about the ability to publish your own work, he had spent his free-time on either doodling or creating short comics as a way to relieve stress and provide some minor entertainment to the other players. Though he never settled on one story, there were quite a few other players who happily picked up his work and continued where he had left off.

Naturally, Isshin approved of this and was quite elated that he sparked a small gathering of artists and a large fan-base who liked his ideas.

"I see," Kirito acknowledged, "Well, I have some things to do, so I'll be heading out."

"You'll be alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Just... watch the other player, Isshin. Make sure she feels at home if she wakes up."

His faced clearly still looked worry but he nodded firmly anyways, "Alright, Kirito; will do."

[...]

Even though the boss-meeting tomorrow was likely going to be just that - _a meeting_ - Kirito still needed to keep everything up to back to their best condition. That meant finding a Tailor for her clothes and finding a Blacksmith for her weapons and armor.

As for her loot and potions, well, a majority of her loot were the required ingredients to powering up the Anneal Blade, so most of those would be out of her inventory very soon. And she hadn't used potions in quite awhile since she wanted to level up her Battle Healing as quickly as possible - _at least to Lv100 by the Third Stratum_ - so she didn't need to restock on those.

All in all, it shouldn't take her more than two hours to finish up her business in town.

"Found you~!"

Kirito turned around to see the shorter Argo approach her.

"Heard you picked up a stray kitten, Ki-bou; that net-game beginner with a fearsome Linear."

"Heard it from Klein?"

"Nope," the golden-brown haired girl chirped, "I was there when they brought you and that girl back," she placed a hand to cover her lips, "Nishishishi, what was it like sleeping with another girl?"

"Harhar," Kirito dryly responded, "Would you like to get in bed with me and find out?"

"Maybe later," Argo winked with a smile, "Nishishishi."

_'I wonder how people saw our conversation when we used male characters during beta...'_ Kirito idly wondered as she noted that a few stray players were trying to intently listen in to their conversation. She changed the subject, "So, let me guess, _they_ raised their offer again, didn't they?"

Argo's eye shifted quickly to the left and right before she pointed out an empty alley-way for the two to talk discreetly in.

The girl leaned on the wall and then nodded, "Yep, 30k Col."

For the past week - _almost the day right after Argo had told Kirito that a boss-meeting was being arranged_ - a mysterious buyer had apparently wanted to buy off Kirito's Anneal Blade+6.

"...Hey, isn't that really suspicious?" Kirito slowly stated with a quirked brow, "With 30k they could just as easily buy and enhance an Anneal Blade to +6 if they wanted to."

Argo shrugged nonchalantly, "I've told my client such as well."

"And they still want to buy the sword," Kirito flatly stated. She let out an annoyed sigh, "Argo, go and tell the buyer that if they want to purchase my sword then they'll have to actually _meet_ me face-to-face."

The Rat smirked, "I thought as much. Well, my business is done here." She paused, "Feeling better, Ki-bou?"

"...A bit."

Argo patted the dual-blader on the shoulder, "Catch ya around then, Ki-bou," and dashed out the alley with that rat-like agility of hers.

"And off she goes..." Kirito mumbled to herself as she too exited the dark alley-way; her next destination was the bazaar of Tolbana.

[...]

Even late at night the marketplace of Tolbana was crowded and lively. The chattering atmosphere all around was draped in the opened lights streaming out of nearby windows or from the flourescent orange-hue of the hanging street-lamps and the paths were bountifully lined with many active vendors pedaling their wares. From the usual merchants selling an assortment of item drops, blacksmiths showing off their skills, or players offering to join late-night hunts or quests; there was simply a variety of people out and about.

Of course, Kirito was here primarily for the Blacksmiths - _the players who exceled in Smithing and made a living by creating new or upgrading pre-existing equipment, which were in the most cases the weapons_.

Since Kirito wore light leather-ish clothes for protection, she would need to visit a Tailor to restore those, which was simple enough since she had no plans to upgrade them; an ordinary visit to an NPC would suffice.

Blacksmithing on the other hand definitely required the touch of a player, simply due to have higher success rates than an NPC - _not to mention the random but still surprisingly good variables that might occur during forging_. Though their services did come at a price that was far more expensive than those from NPCs because of those very facts.

That is unless the player - _like Kirito_ - had a rather amicable relationship or some kind of deal with the Blacksmith.

It didn't take long for Kirito to find her regular Blacksmith at the usual spot; the pounding noise of the hammer signified that the player was most likely working on an order right now. It was an open-stall - _that is to say, there wasn't a stall at all_ - with a somewhat shoddy but still extremely basic workplace necessary for any blacksmith.

The dual-blader simply waited for Lisbeth, a young blacksmith near Kirito's own age, to finish her work.

She had short neck-length brown hair that was parted away in the middle by use of a hairclip on her right-locks. Her eyes were a brown color that glinted pink and sometimes red under of majority of lightings, and her cheeks near the eyes sported light freckles. Lisbeth wore the basic starter equipment that every player began with when they had started Sword Art Online - _she was saving her Col to eventually buy a hair-dye and custom-order a uniform from a Tailor_ - and only her Advance Forging Hammer was the most recently bought item that belonged to her.

Lisbeth was a semi-popular Blacksmith. Since she was one of the rare female players, there were naturally plenty of guy players who flocked to her with ogling eyes. But, for those who preferred efficiency and results over a pretty face, there were also quite a few other blacksmiths who were above her - _even though their Smithing skill were most likely lower, they definitely had better forging gear along with better workshops than her_.

Even though she preferred efficiency as well, this girl was definitely Kirito's personal blacksmith.

They had met simply in another town, Halure, and struck a rather normal deal: Kirito would provide her with plenty of material for the girl to level up her Smithing skill, while Lisbeth would give the dual-blade a discount on future services.

It was a tedious process of plainly but steadily smacking the hot metal material with her hammer until its form was properly shaped. Eventually the ping indicating its completion resounded. Lisbeth stopped and put down her hammer to wipe her forehead with an arm, "Phew," she let out a breath, "It's over..." She carefully inspected the finished product and, with an approving nod, stored the item away.

"Hey," Kirito spoke up.

"Hm?" the blacksmith girl tilted her head at the voice, "Oh, it's you; something I can do for you, Kiri-chan?"

"Just testing my luck on getting this sword," she quickly unsheathed the Anneal Blade and handed it over, "to +8."

Lisbeth smirked, "I'll take on that challenge. So, what will it be?" and placed the sword on her anvil.

The Anneal Blade had an enhancement slot of 8, and was currently at +6, meaning it could be upgraded two more times. On the other hand, that also meant that it had a chance of failing two more times, since every attempt counted toward the enhancement slot regardless of whether it succeeded or failed.

Another thing to note was that -_ besides increasing the base-stats_ - there were five bonus-modifiers when upgrading a weapon.

The first was Sharpness, which primarily increased the damage of bladed-weapons and also allowed them to better cut through armor. The second was Quickness, which primarily increased the speed of Sword Skills and also lowered the cooldown period of using them. The third was Accuracy, which primarily increased the damage of critical hits and also made attacks less likely to veer of course during clashes. The fourth was Heaviness, which primarily increased the damage of blunt-weapons and also allowed them to better crush through armor or stun opponents. The fifth and last was Durability, which greatly increased maximum value of the namesake and slightly raised its resistance to damage.

Kirito's Anneal Blade+6 was 3S2Q1D; in other words Sharpness+3, Quickness+2, and Durability+1.

"Quickness," Kirito answered, "and Durability if its possible." She sent over the abundance of required materials.

Lisbeth nodded, pulled out her Advance Forging Hammer, and tapped the sword ten times - _upgrading was far less tedious than creating something new_. The Anneal Blade shone dimly before dying in a kapoot. The girl smiled wryly at her customer.

"Don't mind," the dual-wielder waved, "Keep going."

Quietly, Lisbeth refocused on forging; this time the finished result had the Anneal Blade shimmering brightly. The blacksmith inspected the sword with a smile before handing it over, "Hah, sorry about that. Here you go, Kiri-chan, 3S3Q1D."

Kirito sheathed the newly upgraded Anneal Blade+7, "Well, it's not like I can fault you for the RNG." She tapped the blade, "So I'll say thanks instead. Thank you for the hard work, Lisbeth."

The girl chuckled and put out an open palm, "Well, I'm not done yet, am I? So hand it over; you want me to restore your Full Knight Longsword's durability, right? So give it here! It's been a long day and I want to hit the hay already."

"Alright, alright," the dual-blader said as she handed over her other sword.

Lisbeth was always a tad pushy despite her docile appearance.

[...]

As expected, the dreaded morning came eventually and it was an awkward affair.

The fencer had woken up and - _though she was only mildly disoriented_ - kept to herself. She revealed that her name was _Asuna_ but other than that she remained very quiet; she even kept her hood up despite the friendly presence of Klein and his friends.

Still, the girl was looking much better than she was yesterday.

The group told her about the boss-meeting and said they were going to bring her along -_ Kirito and Fuurinkazan weren't confident enough to take their eyes off the girl for too long_ - but until then they would patch up her worn-out equipment; that is, completely replace them with newer and better gear.

The quick shopping was followed by further awkward moments as the members of Fuurinkazan tried to get Asuna to open up, to little success of course, by talking about themselves. The fencer merely listened to them quietly, the only noises she made were the light sounds of her eating a snack or sipping her drink.

The situation between Asuna and Kirito could be described as _shy_ as the two girls avoided looking at one another. Kirito due to shame of the forceful 'recruitment' and Asuna for reasons unknown to the group.

The day passed slowly like this but eventually, and thankfully, the time for the boss-meeting finally arrived.

The eight person group walked to the town center of Tolbana where a water-fountain was built, next to it was an open-stage theater of sorts that rested on a lower-level surrounded by thick pillars. The floor was a light and smooth cobblestone that branched off into many roads with the entire area made of soft colors, tinged a bit by the beginning of the afternoon glow.

The water-fountain was enormous, large enough to qualify as a pool, and layered high enough that ten players would need to stand perfectly on each other's shoulder to be even remotely as tall as it was; the fountain was obviously an important monument of sorts for Tolbana. Meanwhile, the theater area was large - _able to support five-hundred players_ - and was built in a similar style to that of a coliseum, the lecture-rooms of universities, or the meeting place of world leaders, and had a regal and empowering atmosphere to it.

Already one could see the large amount of players - _nearly two-hundred, if someone were to hazard a guess_ - that were gathered here, as their vibrant shouts, cheers, and chattered resounded all through out the huge crowd. Most had already seated themselves and formed large groups.

There in the upper-area, the mysterious player, Shintouyu The Silent Knight, sat with full-body black armored - _sword belted on his hip and shield locked onto his back_ - that covered his person from head-to-toe; it was a dark and intimidating appearance similar to the armor worn by the guards and wardens of the Black Iron Fortress.

Further down the same horizontal lane, split by a stairway, the players could see an older-man who was adorned in bright red-with-white armor; Heathcliff Of The Steel, his calm neutral expression ignored the crowd as his sword and shield glimmered in the light. He truly radiated an aura of hard steel and gave the impression of being immensely wise.

No one sat next to either of them, instead choosing to view their grandeur from afar.

It was Kirito's and Fuurinkazan's first time seeing both of those players who were also touted as 'the strongest' like them, yet they could instantly tell who these two calm and dignify individuals were.

"C-Cool...!" Klein muttered under his excited breath.

"OOOHHHHH! It's Kirito The Dual Blader and Klein The Red Comet!" "What?! Fuurinkazan is here?!" "THEY'RE HERE! OVER THERE!"

Quickly the air was filled with shouts and roars that identified them and called them out by their usernames and titles.

Kirito ignored it all and headed over to the theater - _players immediately parted ways to let her through_ - and took a seat in the upper-area, somewhere between Shintouyu and Heathcliff, and Asuna quietly sat besides her to the right. She could tell that Shintouyu and Heathcliff were just as interested in her and Klein, as they were of them.

Klein chuckled meekly from all the sudden attention as he followed behind Kirito; scratching the back of his head. He always wanted to be popular, but actually _being_ popular had flabberghasted him quite a few times.

"As popular as always, eh, Klein?" Kunimittz nudged him in the side.

"If only he was even a tenth of popular with the ladies then maybe he would have a girlfriend by now," Harry One joked.

"Oi, stop that," Klein hissed as he proudly waved back at the crowd; embarrassed or not, he could at least acknowledge his adoring fans. He moved forward fast and took a seat on Kirito's left._ 'SAFE!'_ he thought in his head.

The cheers of the crowd then further increased in volume and energy, "WOOAAAHHHH!" and the reason was simply obvious.

Down on the platform, a six-person group could be seen; it was the Aces Of Stars. Their famous leader, Diabel The Hero, moved with poised grace as he took center-stage.

With blue-dyed hair, a handsome face, and a inspiring voice, the man spoke loudly to the crowd with opened arms and they listened to him intently.

"I must say that I'm honestly surprised! I didn't expect the turn-out to be so large, but for this I am grateful!" The crowd roared with excitement and he chuckled happily in return. "Now then... let us start the First Stratum Boss Meeting!"

That day, the greatest names of Aincrad gathered together and created hope like no other.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Suddenly a Self-Inserted Original Character spotted! Minor-role at best.

I apologize if the story is a bit heavy on the world-building/Sword Art Online game-mechanics fluff, because this chapter really throws out a lot of new things all at once... but I really do like working on said fluff.

I took the name 'Halure' from Tales of Vesperia. RNG is Random Number God, or probability.

Blacksmith mechanics: If a Player-Blacksmith fails an enhancement then the equipment will still get a small, but negligible, boost; If an NPC-Blacksmith fails there's a greater chance of actually losing stats. A failed enhancement is not labeled in an item's name; so an Anneal Blade+4 could either mean it has four slots available or one-to-four failures already done - this can be properly checked in a trade or a reprisal from a blacksmith.

This chapter came out a lot bigger than I had expected. I had to cut out the 'Argo's Public Corner! The Strongest Players!' segment.

* * *

**Review Notes C3**

Anonymous Is A Pretty Bad Name, This will most likely be a general-fic/non-romantic fic.


	5. The First Gathering Of Heroes II

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Chapter Five

_The First Gathering Of Heroes II_

_[War, Glory, And Honor: Extended]_

* * *

First Stratum. December 2022.

Five heroes touted at the strongest players were gathered here in the town center of Tolbana.

[...]

Shintouyu sat in a bored posture, his dark colored armor that protected him head-to-toe seemed to absorb all light to the point where the metal did not have a sheen under the light. His equipment was the complete Black Iron Enforcer Armor-Set, an Anneal Blade sheathed on his left, and the Honorable Warrior's Kiteshield currently fixed to his back.

He was called The Silent Knight because nobody had ever heard him speak a word -_ he by far had a huge record of saving players from monster ambushes, helping stranded players to safety, and even joining parties to take the front-role that most other players were scared to do_.

One of the reasons why Shintouyu was part of the strongest players was because he wore a close-helmet - _a helmet that greatly reduced a player's peripheral vision and increased the chance of being blindsided_ - something which not even the sturdiest of tank-players would dare to wear. Yet most stories about him implied that he had never had trouble seeing and reacted just as well as any hat-less player.

Meanwhile, with his arms crossed, expression stoic, and a firm sitting posture like that of a general; Heathcliff was known as The Man Of Steel, he had dark brown eyes and pulled-back graying hair that was tied into a small ponytail at the end. The adult easily appeared to be twice the age of almost everybody gathered at the meeting.

The white sword that rested on his waist was the One-Handed Sword, Crusader Blade and in his left hand was the Crimson Knight Towershield. His armor was primarily red with white-trims or the opposite, as it was composed of pieces from the Crusader Armor or the Crimson Knight Armor.

Heathcliff Of The Steel was most famous for being an extremely reliable tank-player; joining parties and withstanding ferocious attacks without hint of exertion. Indeed, no one has ever seen his HP go into the red.

The Silent Knight and The Man Of Steel, both players were acquainted with the other, as they had occasionally and coincidentally found themselves working together in the same party more often than not.

The Unstoppable Force and The Ummovable Object; that is how they would be often described together.

[...]

Long raven-colored hair, deep black eyes, a soft face, a slim figure; Kirito The Dual Blader was one of the rare active female players in all of Sword Art Online. Her other nickname was The Black Queen - _'Black' for her color and 'Queen' for both her strength and versatility like that of the Queen piece in chess_.

Sheathed on hips, to her right was the Full Knight Longsword and to her left was the Anneal Blade. Her clothing were light equipment, the very best of the Leather-family - _Reinforced Leather_ - available on the First Stratum. Her appearance did not look like any medieval knight or soldier but more along the lines of a cool modern fantasy character, which gave her a somewhat pretty-boy appearance from afar.

It was no mystery that Kirito was famous, since she was both a girl and dual-wielded -_ such a combination wouldn't be so easily missed_. One could say that she was the most famous player because she had been called 'the strongest player' even before the other four had made names for themselves.

Seated next to Kirito was an older man in his early twenties with red spiky hair held up by a red with golden-stripes bandanna, a small bearded stubble, and sharp yet soft brown eyes. His username was Klein and he was known as The Red Comet or sometimes as The General Of Fuurinkazan.

He was similarly dressed in Reinforced Leather but of course had a more samurai-appeal to his design with pieces of armor fitted here and there - _a mish-mash of equipment, such as the Gray Wolf Gauntlet, the Hard Shell Chestplate, and the Brown Wolf Greaves_ - and his weapon was the One-Handed Curved Sword, the Black Wolf Sabre, tucked safely in its sheath that hanged to his left.

Out of 'the strongest players,' Klein was considered the weakest and most recent addition to the group, however he was greatly popular because he was easily the most sociable of them all.

The Dual Blader and The Red Comet - _the princess and her bodyguard_ - when one name is mentioned then the other is surely to follow.

[...]

He stood in front of the crowd, his gallant-styled hair was a soothing blue and his eyes a glimmering azure, his color palette was primarily light black armor and blue clothes with white trims underneath it; Diabel The Hero was surely the most charismatic of the five strongest players as he stood upon the stage flanked by his trusted companions of Aces Of Stars.

His black armor were the chestplate, pauldron, and greaves of the Triumph Armor and his blue clothes underneath were part of the Templar Clothing. Strapped to his back was the Templar Heatershield and dangling to his left waist was the Full Knight Blade.

The Hero, that was his title, because everybody who had met with Diabel truly believed that he would be the one to set them free from the accursed death game that was Sword Art Online.

[...]

These five were known as the strongest players in all of Aincrad.

[...]

"Now then... let us start the First Stratum Boss Meeting!" Diabel said with a silencing gesture of his hand and the gathered two-hundred players began to settle themselves down.

His eyes panned across the crowd, momentarily lingering on the visages of Shintouyu, Heathcliff, Kirito, and Klein, and then he nodded to himself.

Diabel placed a hand on his chest, "I am truly grateful for all of you players gathered here and I thank you all for taking your time to attend this meeting!" He received a great applause, "Of course, I must also send great thanks to my good friend for spreading the news and making this event possible," he turned to look at a distant player who was leaning against a pillar. He bowed, "Thank you, Argo!"

The crowd cheered and clapped, while the information broker herself merely kept cool.

Diabel addressed the audience again, "I am sure that many of you here know of me, but still, allow me to introduce myself: I am Diabel and my class is Knight!"

"Don'tcha mean _Hero_?" someone shouted out merrily and the group of players loudly agreed.

In Sword Art Online there was no real class-system. Because equipment had no stats or level restriction, along with the ability to reset their stats and skills, a player could simply take on any role they wanted; of course, not all at once.

The blue-haired player lightly chuckled, "So I've been called!" He coughed into his hand and cleared his throat, "Well then, the reason I've called you all here today... It is because today my party, the Aces Of Stars, have successfully discover the entrance to the First Stratum Boss Room!"

Even though that was an expected statement, the group of players still made a large commotion about it.

"One month..." the Hero started out semi-quietly, "It has taken us one month to reach this far, so now we need to set an example! We must defeat the boss and reach the Second Stratum!" He clenched his hand into a fist in front of him, "Is is not our obligations as the top players to show our strength and courage? Are we not gathered here today so that we may unite as one and show everybody that beating Sword Art Online is not an impossibility?"

Diabel grabbed out his sword and pointed it skyward, "That is the very reason we picked up our swords! Am I not right?"

"You're absolutely right, man!" someone shouted.

"We're with ya!" another followed up with.

"HERO! HERO! HERO! HERO! HERO!"

The crowd cheered and applauded loud enough that almost all of Tolbana could hear them.

"Awesome! Super awesome!" Klein excitedly gush with sparkling eyes.

"That Diabel guy is a pretty smooth talker," Harry One stated.

Kunimittz nodded, "Well, he is the Hero."

"He certainly acts like one," Isshin added.

Kirito quietly smirked to herself, "Hero, huh...?" It did seem fitting and, with a leader like him, the first boss fight should be smooth sailing under his command.

"NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE!" A deep gravelly voice boomed through the air. Its impatient anger was clear from the get-go and practically continued to linger in the atmosphere. The crowd became silent as someone leapt from the seats and came down hard onto the stage in front of the Hero.

The player was average in size, perhaps a little stocky, and wore light equipment -_ the Hard Leather kind_ - with a large One-Handed Sword strapped onto his back - _Drag Edge Blade_. The man seemed to be around his mid-to-late twenties and had a noticeably odd brown cactus-like hairstyle.

He had a very thug-esque appearance that Kirito approved of and she reminisced somewhat about her old SAO-avatar because of it.

Diabel stood attentive to his guest, "Yes, how may I help you?"

The newcomer cracked his neck, "Yeah, before we can continue, I got something _reeaaaal_ important to say." His hard tone demanded attention and its roughness scratched the air like heated desert sand.

The Hero blinked and smiled, "Well, if you believe it's something important then you're more than welcome to say it. However, before you do, would you care to introduce yourself to us?"

The gruff player snorted in amusement and turned to face the audience, he pointed a thumb at himself, "I'm Kibaou."

_'Kibaou?'_ Kirito blinked in surprise.

About two weeks ago, Kirito had finally learned what had happened to Coper after the Little Nepent incident: the boy had died.

According to Argo's information, Coper had tried to Monster Player-Kill - _MPK as it was shortened_ - his entire party to take several rare item drops for himself and, according to the Information Broker's extensive network, it was also not Coper's first time doing so. But this time the boy's scheme had gone awry and failed, thus he was consequently killed by the very mob of monsters that he had lured and aggravated into action.

However, there was one survivor of that dreadful incident...

_'Could he be that Kibaou...?'_

The adult growled as his eyes seemed to scan the crowd. "Out of all the players here, around ten to twenty of ya need to get down on their knees and beg for forgiveness!"

The gathered two-hundred players began muttering and whispering to each other.

"Apologize? To whom and what for?" Diabel quickly questioned.

"Hah? Isn't it obvious, _Mister Hero_?" Kibaou spoke with hatred, "Those bastards owe a fucking apology to the two-thousands who died! Those greedy pigs who monopolized the game on the first day and abandoned everybody else; those fuckers caused them to die!" He shouted to the crowd, "ISN'T THAT RIGHT?!"

But no one dared to answer him.

Diabel crossed his arms and gave a stern and firm look, "...Kibaou, are you perhaps referring to the Beta Testers?"

"There's obviously no one else it could be except those bastards," the thuggish player replied in a huffing snort.

There was a large black five-sided spire called the Monument Of Life that had appeared during the start of the death game that was Sword Art Online. Its location was in what was previously the Room Of Resurrection - _north district of the Starting City, between the royal palace and the central plaza_ - and it contained the names of every player trapped in SAO.

One day, somewhere around the second week into the game, someone had chosen - _for whatever reason_ - to check the Monument Of Life... and then discovered that almost 2000 names were morbidly crossed off.

It was at that time when many players - _particularly those who had remained in the Starting City_ - started blaming the numerous deaths on the Beta Testers. There was such vehement rage against those 1000 players, that many of them began to fear for their lives - _afraid of being dragged away by a frenzied mob_ - that the Beta Testers began to progress slower and quietly integrated themselves with the newer crowd to disappear from view.

In other words, a player declaring themselves as a Beta Tester was akin to a death sentence.

It was also in that way, it could be said that the First Stratum would have already been cleared by the third or fourth week of November... were it not for the fact that the Beta Testers were too afraid of revealing themselves and being lynched by the masses.

Kibaou sneered at the crowd and continued, "On the first day of the game, those god damn Beta Testers ran away and ditched us to fend for ourselves! Those fucking dirty bastards... There should be a couple of them hiding out in the crowd right now!" He roared, "Ya think you're so smart, huh, sneaking into the boss-fight while hiding your beta-status?! Fuck you! Get down here and kneel, beg for forgiveness, because your cowardly life depends on us, the people you assholes left behind!"

The tension in the air was thick as the two-hundred players murmured amongst themselves and considered Kibaou's words; a rift slowly formed as they began to doubt the status of their fellow players.

Kirito trembled with anger. She had gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, she knew that Kibaou had a right to be angry -_ it was more than likely that Kibaou had learned some time after the incident that Coper was a Beta Tester_ - and she had tried to endure the cactus-haired man's verbal abuse, but she was at the end of her patience at listening to his misguided hatred.

Kirito immediately stood up.

Klein and Asuna jolted and wondered what the girl was doing. The crowd gasped - _there were already many rumors that the five strongest players were most likely beta-testers_ - and became deathly quiet as they tensely watched Kirito's next actions.

The player known as Kibaou had a furious expression, "You... I knew it, you're a fucking Beta-Tester, huh, ain't that right?! _BLACK QUEEN_?!" He pulled out his sword and pointed it at her threateningly.

Kirito jumped off the stands and landed in front of the beta-hater. She glared at him hard in the eyes and he did the same -_ though they were of nearly the same height, Kirito did not look quite as intimidating as Kibaou did_.

"So what?" Kirito growled at him, "What the hell do you want _me_ to apologize for?"

Kibaou raised his head to look down on her, "You bitch! You think ya can act high-and-mighty in front of me? In front of all us here, you dirty beta-tester!"

In a blur she unsheathed her blades, Kibaou did not even have time to react and the crowd barely had enough time of their own to gasp. Her Anneal Blade struck the man, lifting him off the ground, and then the Full Knight Longsword immediately came down from above and slammed him back onto the ground in a crumpled but actually unharmed state. The only reason he was not hurt at all -_ his Health Points did not decline but he certainly felt the blows_ - was due to the safety of the Anti-Criminal Code Effect Area in the Inner-Area.

Kibaou groaned as he looked up to find the sharp end of the Anneal Blade pointed between his eyes.

"That's what I should be saying to you, _Kibaou_," she said his name in venom, "You said that two-thousand players are dead... but do you even know _why_ they died?"

"It's because of you fucking beta-testers abandoning us!" he instantly retorted loudly as he pushed himself off the ground; completely unafraid of her blade.

"Is that what you really think?" Kirito scowled at him, her sword leveled at his chest, "If you had ever checked the Monument Of Life, then you would have seen the cause of death along with the time of death for each player. Out of the two-thousands players, fifteen-hundred of them were by 'falling to the world's edge' and most of those had occurred within the first week of the game.

In other words, one-thousand and five-hundred players had simply committed suicide," Kibaou opened his mouth to respond but Kirito quickly and coldly cut him off, "How the hell are the Beta-Testers responsible for those people who _chose_ to kill themselves?" She angrily glared at him and continued, "And what's more, out of the those remaining five-hundred players who primarily lost their lives to monsters... Around three-hundred of them were those 'shitty' Beta-Testers you seem to hate."

Everybody froze in their seats; the air heated up from Kibaou's word just dropped to chill at Kirito's own. Most players only knew that there were around 1000 beta-players but not about what they were doing. Almost everybody believed that all of them were still alive somewhere - _to hear that nearly one-third of them were already dead and long gone, it wasn't something they could immediately comprehend_.

The players mumbled to themselves, morbidly soaking in the revelation that Kirito had given them. Most of them would come to the logical conclusion that the Beta-Testers were not at fault for anything. But still, they were not that easily swayed and there was something that they also believed that Kibaou was correct about.

"What the fuck?!" Kibaou screeched, "So what?! Just because some of you freaking Beta-Testers died... you think you'll be forgiven?! No fucking way! Did you forget that it was you bastards who left us behind on the first day of the game?! Ya fucking greedy pigs hogging everything for yourself; if anything, those bastards deserved what they got!"

"OI, SHUT THE HELL UP! Don't you dare talk about Kirito like that!" Klein stood up and roared from the crowd. From his spot he literally looked down upon Kibaou, "What the shit do you know, huh?! You weren't there when she was struggling to keep us all alive! You weren't there when she had nightmares about us dying! You weren't there to see her trying to shoulder all the pain, burdens, and worries by herself! Kibaou, don't dare you fucking dare say that Kirito is at a fault just because she was a beta-tester! You know nothing about her!"

"Klein..." Kirito mumbled to herself softly. She showed him her soft-self from time to time but she always tried to hide her weak moments from him. Perhaps he was a bit more keen than she gave him credit for.

"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT!" the rest of Fuurinkazan rose defiantly from their seat. Meanwhile, Asuna remained plopped on her seat and tried to be inconspicuous as possible.

"That girl has always been doing her best to help us!" Kunimitzz said with folded arms.

Harry One jabbed out his finger, "If you got a problem with her then you've got a problem with us! Fuurinkazan!"

Isshin nodded, "We can't forgive you, if you keep insulting Kirito like this."

The members of Fuurinkazan were surprisingly hot-blooded despite being adults.

The crowd looked at themselves wryly wondering what to do; seeing the nicest group of players around so riled up made them feel truly ashamed and awkward of themselves. Kibaou though seemed ready to explode in furious rage.

It was then that a deep and rich voice cut into the heavy atmosphere, "Excuse me, I also like to add in my own piece."

Everyone turned to find the speaker and this player stood out immensely. He was tall - _the tallest of any player here, at nearly six-feet tall_ - and had a dark skin-tone of chocolate brown - _he did not appear to have a drop of Japanese ancestry in him but he spoke the language quite fluently nonetheless _- with a muscular body and a chiseled face adorn with a fuzzed beard. The bald man wore very light equipment, almost completely unarmored, but had a large intimidating Two-Handed Battle-Axe on his back.

The large player walked onto the stage and gave a curt nod to everybody there - _including Kibaou_ - and then faced the audience.

He hefted up a small leather-bound book, "Hello, my name is Agil," his rich voice commanded neutral respect and certainly kept everyone's attention on him, "I'm am sure all of you recognize this guidebook," he tapped Argo's Strategy Guide, "and also know that this book has been freely distributed since before the first week of SAO was over.

It's an extremely useful book; I'm sure that for most of us, it was exactly what gave us the motivation to leave the Starting City, correct? That's why, I'm also certain that many of us have made it a habit to check for the most recent editions of the guide whenever we visit a new town or village."

"So what?!" Kibaou growled without exploding.

Agil simply nodded and took that as his cue to continue, "The speed of the updates... it's unbelievably quick isn't it? The people who are providing the information for the guidebook... who are they?" He paused momentarily, "What you are all thinking is correct; it can be nobody else but the Beta-Testers. This guidebook is, without a doubt, their way of taking responsibility as veteran players of Sword Art Online."

The man nodded sagely, "However, they were only veterans of the game's beta-period; that is to say, things have certainly changed since then. If this guidebook was thrown together on the first day without confirming the facts, then even more players would have probably died due to false information." He bowed, "That is why, I want to say thank you to all the Beta-Testers who risked their lives to create this guidebook. And to continue to give my thanks to all the Beta-Testers who are still working hard so that we all may learn from your mistakes. Thank you."

Agil's speech built a slowly rising applause from the crowd.

Diabel walked up to Kibaou and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"I certainly understand your point, Kibaou, as I too have wandered into many unknown situations and almost paid for it with my life. However, it is as Kirito, Klein, and Agil say: the Beta-testers are just as much victims as everybody else. If there is anyone to blame for this situation... is it not the man who imprisoned us?"

Diabel paused to let his words seep in and then walked pass Kibaou to confront the audience. "Everyone, whether you are a Beta-tester or not, it does not matter! We must all work together to beat this death game! Because, for us, there is but only one enemy that we must defeat: _Kayaba Akihiko_!"

The crowd roared in agreement as they finally became united under a common goal with a common enemy. Now they stood together, for better or worst.

[...]

As Diabel continued to preach to the crowd, Kirito quietly watched as Agil returned to their seat and wordlessly thanks the man. After that, she turned to look at Kibaou from out of the corner of her eyes - _he looked bitter and somewhat restless but definitely not defeated_.

She thought for a moment, wondering if she should tell him about her encounter with Coper on the first day of the game, but she decided against it. There was no point in telling him about it; it would console nor fix anything between Kibaou and her.

_'He doesn't deserve pity,'_ her mind sneered and Kirito hastily stopped looking at him.

She lowered her sword against him and sheathed it. Quietly, she returned to her seat and Fuurinkazan welcomed her back warmly while Asuna sat silently as ever.

The rest of the meeting was considerably unimportant to Kirito as Diabel was merely relating what he and his party had discovered inside the boss room.

A giant red Kobold that was easily 2 meter - _about 6.6ft_ - in height, its name was Illfang The Kobold Lord, it was lightly armored and wielded a Scimitar. It was a Level 10 boss-monster with four HP bars and was also guarded by four Level 9 Halberd-using Kobold Sentinels. All of that was so far still consistent with the beta.

"Kirito!" Diabel called out and all eyes went to her, "As a Beta-Tester, you should know more about the Boss, correct?"

Before she could even open her mouth, Argo spoke out, "Ah, let me handle that, Hero!" and clapped her hands several times to garner attention from the crowd.

That was odd to Kirito, since Argo quite disliked being in the spotlight.

"Alright then, this is information that I got from the Beta Testers," Argo wagged her finger, "So understand that everything I say could be plain outdated in the official release. Anyways, I'm going to keep it short.

A boss-raid group consists of eight parties of six, meaning only a total of forty-eight players can join. For this boss, it should be more than enough if everybody is at least Level 8 by now.

The boss, Illfang, has four HP bars which is about three-hundred Kobold Minions worth each. For every bar, a group of four Kobold Sentinels will spawn to protect him. Finally, when his HP reaches the red, he'll switch from his Scimitar to a Talwar; both are One-Handed Curved Swords.

Illfang's damage is high enough that most of his attacks will kill tanks in four clean-hits but he doesn't move or attack all that much faster than Kobold Minions, so his attacks should be easy to block or avoid. On the other hand, watch out for his Sword Skills, unless your Strength is really high or you have an impeccable guard, he'll break through your defense like butter!

Now, you guys don't need to fret. I'll be publishing a guide with tons more information on this tomorrow. So you can all review this stuff later."

Diabel clapped and smiled brightly at her, "Thank you very much, Argo. That was very informative. With this information, I believe we can skip out the two-three days of scouting-raids."

"I don't recommend that, Diabel-san," the Rat warned quickly but politely, "Like I said, this was all correct during beta but things could have changed."

The Hero nodded, "I understand your concern, Argo. But, I believe that most of the casualties would occur from the scouting-raids. Even though I do not doubt that we have many good players gathered here, a majority of us simply do not have the experience of working together in a large raid-group or even have the leadership skill necessary to properly lead others through it. Besides," he smiled again, "So far the information you have given us seems to be fairly accurate, Argo. It is highly unlikely that there were any significant changes made to Illfang, so we shouldn't have any difficulty dealing with the boss then."

Kirito could tell by Argo's slight expression that she thought otherwise but the information broker simply kept quiet about her opinion since Diabel seemed to be surprisingly stubborn but in a elegant manner._ 'What's it called; a Silver Tongue?'_ she thought.

"Well then, it's getting late, so let's head meet back here tomorrow at the same time and continue the meeting then. Dismissed and good afternoon to everyone!"

[...]

As everyone departed, Diabel called out, "Ah, pardon me, Shintouyu, Heathcliff, Kirito, and Klein, would you all please come down here?"

Silently the called players - _not to mention the rest of Fuurinkazan and Asuna_ - came onto the stage and the strongest players gave a curt nod or gesture to each other.

"Greetings," Diabel said politely, "I know you're all quite busy, so I'll keep this short. As you know, many players see us five as the strongest players in the game; would it not be best then that we lead them from the front?"

"Be Party Leaders, you mean?" Klein asked.

"Exactly," the Hero confirmed, "Tomorrow's meeting will be the formation of the boss-raid group and I'm certain many players will be expecting us to lead them. Of course I already have my own party, the Aces Of Stars, and you, Klein, already have Fuurinkazan; that simply leaves Kirito, Shintouyu, and Heathcliff. It would boost morale and ease tension greatly if we five were Party Leaders."

"I see, that is acceptable," Heathcliff's baritone voice resounded. He nodded, "Now, if you shall excuse me; there are preparations to be made," and walked away nonchalantly.

Shintouyu gave a nod but stayed. Diabel turned to look at Kirito, waiting for her answer.

"I'll be choosing who joins my group," she replied. After all, she was rather picky with her who she would work with closely.

Diabel smiled and cleared his throat, "That is all and well, but I have to yet assign roles to any of the groups and that may require a rearrangement of players to balance out the weaknesses and strengths."

Kirito didn't want to argue all that much with the Hero, she was already a little tire from shouting at Kibaou, but she wasn't all that ready to back down and aimed for a compromise instead, "No more than two players will be changed from my roster. I will follow your orders in the boss-fight, but I expect you to trust my decisions as a fellow Party Leader, Diabel."

The man paused and thought over her conditions. Eventually he nodded, "Yes, that will be fine. Well then, that is all I have to say," he smiled once more, "A good afternoon to you, ladies and gentlemen," and signaled for the Aces Of Stars to move out.

As the Hero left, Klein walked over to Shintouyu and called out, "Um, hey," the Silent Knight looked his way, "I'm, uh, sorta a huge fan of you, can I get a handshake?" The rest of Fuurinkazan piped up with a _'Me too!'_ and Shintouyu shook all of their hands firmly before taking his own leave.

"Come on, let's go home," Kirito urged after the short fanfare.

[...]

"Hey Kirito, we gotta talk," Klein later and finally complained to the girl.

"About what?"

The group were, right now, resting in the lounge of their rented farm-house.

"You know, the part where you had me scared out of my wits because I thought you were gonna turn batshit crazy and beat the crap out of Kibaou," he replied dryly.

"Though he would have deserved it," Dale commented.

"Doesn't matter!" the samurai snapped, "She could have been reported!"

"That wouldn't have been a problem, I could always pay my way out," Kirito answered without concern.

In Sword Art Online, the game's jail was located in the Black Iron Fortress. If a player committed a crime and was caught by the NPC guards then they would be hauled off to a cell, from there they would could either wait out the time or pay the bail money.

Permanently marked Orange Players on the other hand would need to break out on their own, however that is almost impossible due to the freakishly high level of the NPC guards. The jail cells are essentially located in deep beneath Black Iron Fortress and could be considered a nine-floors Labyrinth-Maze on its own.

Klein frowned, "That doesn't make it any less worst, you know?"

"I agree with Klein on this," Harry One spoke. Dynamm and Kunimittz nodded in accord as well.

Kirito's eyes droop slightly, "Ah... Sorry for worrying you, guys."

The red-haired man placed a hand on his hip and sighed with a smile, "When don't you?" and he quickly let the matter go. It was hard for him and the rest of the guys stay mad at her; they were such softies.

[...]

Asuna and Kirito retreated to the bedroom; the dual-blader took to a chair and the fencer sat on the bed. The ambience was as quiet and awkward as expected.

Kirito wasn't really sure what to say to the other girl, so she simply spoke the things that came to mind.

"Do you hate me; that I'm a beta-tester?"

Asuna merely shook her head slowly. The hood of her cloak was still up and shadowed her facial expression well.

"Do you want to stay with us...? With me?"

The girl nodded with equal slowness from before.

Kirito scratched her head and brought up her menu.

Asuna jostled when a ping announced the arrival of a Friend's Request, 'Kirito wants to be your friend,' she blinked and turned to the other gal. The black-clad player was looking away, seemingly embarrassed. Asuna's lip twitched, almost into a small smile, as she accepted the request.

"Um, thank you," Kirito said awkwardly with a lowered head.

The fencer shook her head and spoke clearly but quietly, "No, thank you, Kirito."

A noise came from the door that lead to the hallway. Tap, tap-tap-tap, tap; Kirito knew that it was a rhythmic code used by the Rat. She stood up, walked over, and opened the door.

"Sup, Ki-bou~!" the Information Broker happily greeted and Kirito returned the hello.

The Dual Blader turned to address Asuna next, "There's a bathing room with warm water," she said pointing to the other door, "You should take a bath, it's good for relaxing even if the water sensation isn't perfect."

Asuna nodded her head, she could plainly tell that Kirito and Argo wanted a private conversation. And, well, she was quite interested in taking a bath as well. Even if players technically couldn't smell or get dirty, after a month of being trapped in this game, she felt icky nonetheless. She hurriedly left to get herself cleaned up.

Kirito moved to her bed and the information broker went for the sofa. The Black Queen calmed herself and got back to her normal pacing.

"I wasn't expecting you at all, Argo," Kirito started, "Something the matter?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders, "Yes. That buyer of yours is really persistent, they want to hear your reply today."

"I already said that if they want to buy my Anneal Blade then they'll have to meet me face-to-face," Kirito waved her hand disinterested, "It's maxed out at a +7 now, by the way."

Argo blinked then smirked, "Hoh? Well, a +7 is still worth a fortune. Speaking of... the client is now offering forty-seven thousand and five hundred col for your sword; that's their final offer."

Kirito narrowed her eyes, the deal was far too suspicious to her - _someone with that kind of money could get an Anneal Blade to +8_. She opened up her inventory and threw out a bag of col -_ two-thousand worth_ - at the information broker, "Who's the buyer?"

The Rat's eyes briefly twitched before she sent a message to the client. Getting the return message, she next pocketed the bag, "You already know who they are, Kirito," Argo said, it was rare for the girl to address her with her full username, "It's Kibaou."

"That Kibaou, huh...?" Kirito mumbled. She had a bad feeling about him, and that's not because their first meeting was of him being fueled by beta-hate. She had a few guesses why he wanted her sword so badly -_ such as preparing for the boss raid_ - but nothing that would explain her paranoia. Whatever the case, now that she knew, she definitely was not willing to sell her sword to someone like him.

"I take it the deal is officially closed now?"

The Black Queen nodded her head, "Yeah."

"I thought so," the Rat smirked as she stood up and stretched, "Nishishishi. Say, after Fencer-san finishes her bath, let's go in and have ours~!"

Kirito raised a brow, "Why?"

Argo wagged a finger, "The perfect way to end a long day is with a soothing bath!" she winked, "Besides, you invited me to bed today!"

"...I did but I didn't think you would take that seriously," replied Kirito dully.

"Tsk, tsk, I've kept this place hidden from the other players for two things, Ki-bou! First, is the wonderful bath that can't be found anywhere else, of course! Second, the bed; the softest and fluffiest bed in all of the First Stratum, it's like sleeping on a cloud!" She grinned, "And today I get both! With you as a bonus!"

"Do whatever you want," Kirito answered nonchalantly; it was already a tiresome day and she didn't want to make it anymore troublesome.

[...]

The room was brightly lit by warm light-crystals. The lively orange wooden floors, wall, and ceiling were was all professionally polished and smooth, and the round bath sat in the middle. The bathing room had a soothing and relaxing atmosphere.

Kirito rested her back on the edge of the pool, her eyes closed, with her head leaning lazily facing the ceiling.

Argo meanwhile had submerged half her face in the water and bubbled for a while. "Puah!" she popped her head out of the water and swam - _more like walked because the pool was big but still shallow to a certain extent_ - closer to Kirito, and rested herself on the girl's left, "Hey."

"Hm?"

"You really should tone down that temper of yours, Ki-bou. You really caused quite a scene today."

Kirito hummed, "And what about you? Isn't it your policy to stay outside the spotlight?"

Argo shrugged, "It's not like I had much of choice once the Hero called me out earlier. Besides, the more players that know about me as a trusted information broker then the more clients I'll get in the future. Nishishishi," she paused, "And you have a bigger problem than I do, Kirito. I can hold it back for awhile but the news that you're a Beta-Tester will spread."

"...I know," she slowly opened her eyes half-way, "I'll deal with it somehow; don't worry."

Argo was silent for a few moments before taking a deep breath and plunging her head back into the blissful water.

[...]

"So that's your night-wear?" Kirito commented as she took a look at her friend who was dressed in a very fitting lime-green tank-top and white shorts.

"Yep," the Rat chirped. She eyed Kirito in her plain short-sleeved shirt and pants, "As expected, all black," she sneered, "Is it all black underneath too, I wonder?"

"As if you didn't already know," Kirito commented nonchalantly. Considering that they both went into and out of the bath at the same time, then they both already knew what kind of undergarments the other was wearing - _if any at all_. "And don't think about it selling it as information, or people will be hearing about_ your_ preferences too, Argo."

The golden-brown haired girl merely snickered.

The two of them turned to look at Asuna who was dressed in her usual equipment, standing rather still.

"You don't have any sleeping-clothes?" Argo asked innocently but clearly with underlying intentions.

The girl shook her head, "Pointless."

That was indeed true. For the most part, players can't actually get dirty under normal circumstances, so owning a secondary set of clothing for sleeping was odd - _most players would just take off their weapons and armor before going to bed_. And for those who slept in the wild - _like Asuna had been doing for awhile_ - removing their equipment was the last thing they wanted to do.

Argo grabbed Asuna by her shoulders, "No problem, I have just the thing!" and excitedly pushed the girl into the bathing room.

Several minutes later, Asuna came out wearing only a thigh-reaching white sleeping-gown. Her face was a slightly rosy color of pink and she was gripping the bottom hem of her gown. She was showing quite a bit of skin and was severely embarrassed without her hooded cloak.

"I'm a miracle worker!" Argo proudly stated, "Isn't she just so cute, Ki-bou~?"

"All you did was make her wear a night-gown."

"And that meant I had to make her strip!" Argo once again declared proudly, "It's a gift really." She quickly took Kirito's and Asuna's wrist and dragged them to bed, neither of them made heavy resistance, "Now let's sleep! We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"

The Black Queen gave the fencer a mildly apologetic look, "Sorry, Argo is always like this," and the girl returned it with an uneasy nod of acceptance.

Kirito laid on the left facing the center with Argo in the middle snuggling up to her, while Asuna slept on the right, facing away from the two. The night was quiet as the Rat and the fencer drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Kirito stayed awake and listened to their soft breathing, Argo clutched onto her shirt with her head resting onto Kirito's chest - _the mannerism reminded her somewhat of her little sister_.

_'Suguha... how are you and mom doing?'_

Kirito closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep with that thought.

* * *

**Author Notes**

The original version of the character descriptions were so grossly information packed that I probably trimmed out 1k words from it alone to keep the meeting from stalling...

I must say that Kibaou has some massive balls to jump into a gathering of heroes and then ruin the good mood. Also, the '2000 players died' count does no include the first 200 who died from being disconnected.


	6. End War With The Kobolds

**_KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE_**

Chapter Six

_End War With The Kobolds_

_[Ruinous Kobold Lord]_

* * *

First Stratum. December 2022.

Everybody from before - except Argo The Rat - was once again gathered for the First Stratum Boss Meeting and everybody had also procured themselves a copy of Argo's Strategy Guide: First Stratum Boss Edition to read and pass the time with. The players settled in easily and Diabel dispensed the usual pleasantry before he moved on to the purpose of today's meeting.

"Just to restate," he started, "In your usual Boss Raid, there are forty-eight players; that is eight Parties with six players in each. As you can see, Klein and I have our own parties, but the Silent Knight, the Man Of Steel, and the Black Queen require some members of their own to lead.

Now then, as you should have reviewed, the boss will be protected by sentinels on his left and right which we can consider to be on par with mini-bosses. I have already assigned Klein to handle those on the left. Meanwhile I am assigning Kirito to the right, so I would like those with high-Strength to form a line on her.

As for Shintouyu and Heathcliff, they will be our defense group. They are to intercept the boss' attack, and the Sentinels if necessary, to allow the main group to recover their health. I would like all those with high-Endurance or tanking players to join their party.

With this, we have five parties complete, meaning we have room for three more; that's eighteen players. I would like the rest of you to decide amongst yourselves on who shall form these last three. However, do note that those three parties will be a part of my group, that is the boss-attacking group, so please form your composition evenly as I will make changes if I deem it necessary.

Additionally, I am sorry to say, but I do have one condition: players wishing to join must at least be Level Eight. Once again, I apologize, but please do not join a party unless you are Level Eight; the more experienced the players with us then the safer this Boss-Raid will be. I hope you all understand. Thank you."

After finishing his instructions, Diabel clapped his hands and let the two-hundred players begin their mass shuffling and organization.

[...]

The Silent Knight had a small gathering of players - most players, while respectful and thankful, found him a bit creepy to work with - and choose his party based on those familiar to him. Exhausting that list, he picked those who looked tough - even though appearance was deceiving in a stat-based game.

Heathcliff had an obviously large amount of players flocking to his position - he had charisma, but it was different from Diabel's 'Elegant and Inspirational,' and was more like 'Wise, Responsible, and Commanding.' He was quite strict since the first thing he did was have every recruit reveal to him their levels, their skills, and the enhancements of their shields - a couple of players backed out and quite a few didn't meet his requirements. Only two other players fit what he was looking for and the Man Of Steel simply picked out the remaining best players he could get to fill in the rest of the spots.

Kirito's line was rather small as well - more than Shintouyu's but variably less than Heathcliff - since she was a mix-bag. The Black Queen was infamously hard to approach and most people had only ever spoke a few lines to her, and even that was after getting Klein to introduce them first. Luckily for her, Asuna was in her party, so she only needed to choose four others. Her method of picking was rather simple: she gestured to those who didn't seem to have hidden resentments for Beta-Testers and weren't likely to stab her in the back.

Looking at the other three remaining parties that would work with the Hero, Kirito spied that Agil was a leader. _'Good,'_ she thought, he seemed like a nice guy. But Kibaou was also one as well, apparently because he had intimidated everyone else from the leadership position, and she wasn't happy of him being a position of power - granted his party would nowhere be near her's in the actual raid. Meanwhile, the last party was rather nondescript and she didn't bother keeping tab on them.

After all that, Diabel began walking around and started examining and cleaning up the parties. He shifted members between all the group; in Kirito's case he took out two attack members and replaced them with support - a Spear User and a Tank.

"Diabel," she called out to him as the Hero switched her party members, "Is it really alright for Kibaou to be a leader?"

The man hummed before answering, "Yes, I understand that you and some other players have some problems with him as he does seem to be a little unsound of mind. However, his attitude will keep the members of his party in line and on alert. I have also talked a bit with him today and calmed him down, I will do so tomorrow as well, so I believe he will be a reliable leader for the boss-fight."

Kirito stayed silent, she didn't like his decision but accepted it for now. There was something about Diabel that was beginning to seem iffy to her but she wasn't going to call him out on it - she didn't care for her reputation but the balance of the Boss-Raid's success relied on him; if she was going to disturb that scale then it was best that she did it after the boss-fight rather than before.

[...]

Meanwhile, Klein and Fuurinkazan were walking over to Heathcliff.

"H-Hello!" the Red Comet greeted the Man Of Steel, "My name is Klein and I'm a big fan of yours!"

The older man looked at him with seemingly soul-piercing eyes before answering, "I see."

Klein put out a hand, "Can I get a handshake, sir?"

"Us as well?" Isshin spoke up for the rest of the group.

He nodded, "A pleasure," he firmly gripped Klein's hand and shook it - Klein pumped his fist in his mind with a resounding 'Yes!' - before moving on to the rest of Fuurinkazan. Heathcliff gave a thin smile when he returned back to Klein, "I look forward to seeing you in action, General Of Fuurinkazan, along with the Black Queen as well."

Klein chuckled and scratched the back of head, "That's a really big title, I don't think I'm that big of a deal compared to you."

"Do not sell yourself so short. If I recall correctly, your other title is The Red Comet because all of your Sword Skills flare up in red, orange, or yellow instead of the other colors like blue, green, or purple. Is such a thing not simply amazing?"

"But that's just luck, it's not really skill or anything."

"Indeed, it is unusual but it can be considered a form of fortune as well," Heathcliff replied somewhat cryptically.

"Um, thanks?"

The Man Of Steel nodded his head before turning away - apparently finished with the conversation already - and started re-inspecting his party. Klein wasn't really offended as he moved back with the rest of Fuurinkazan.

"Alright, I got to shake Shintouyu and Heathcliff's hand! That leaves Diabel last."

"What a fanboy," Harry One teased.

"Pot meet kettle," Klein rebutted.

"You were pretty shy and modest there," Kunimittz stated.

"When is he not?" Dale commented back.

Klein frowned, "Oh come on, why are you guys all jumping in all me?"

Isshin chuckled, "Well, aren't you going to shake hands with Diabel next?"

The samurai shook his head, "Not yet. Waiting for the right moment, I guess. Maybe after the boss-fight."

"Ah? Gonna approach him like 'That was good fight, man!' or something?" Harry One said, "How manly of you, Klein."

"It is Klein, after all," Dynamm spoke.

"Jeez, what is this 'talking about the weather' tone, damn it?!" He grinned, "As if you guys are any different!" and jokingly knuckled most of them on their arm, which they joyously laughed off.

As they left, a few non-party players - encouraged by Klein's stunt - bravely began walking up to Shintouyu, Heathcliff, and Kirito to ask for handshakes. Meanwhile a much larger group approached Klein and Diabel as well.

The second meeting had ended in a rather cheerful mood.

[...]

First Stratum. December 2022.

Today was the day of the First Stratum Boss Raid.

The eight parties gathered early in the morning at the usual meeting spot and set off from there toward the Tower Of Ruin.

Argo and Lisbeth had greeted Kirito before her group had left; both of them told her that she and Fuurinkazan had better beat the boss and come back safe and sound. The two girls were very protective of the entire team and Klein had suddenly popped-up to loudly promised that they would be fine. Kirito hoped that would be the case but she was prepared for the worst anyways.

The trip was uneventful as the boss-raiding party traveled through the first and nineteenth floors of the boss dungeon. For the most part, they did not take detours and the players simply breezed through the monsters with little wear - it only took around four hours to travel the entire distance and damages were often light enough to walk off without a potion.

A majority of the trip was basically an extended get-to-together for the rag-tag bunch of players to get use to their only recently formed parties and, by Kirito's observation, all the parties were fairly solid in composition and teamwork.

The mood was jovial as the players chit-chatted with one another. They were all quite eager and ready to tackle Illfang The Kobold Lord. However, that began to die down as the boss-raiding party stood before the two ancient and cursed-looking stone doors. Intricately designed and large enough to be the height of a two-story building, the doors stood out even amongst the ruins that surrounded it - mostly because of the impaled human skeletons that were paraded near them.

The players shivered at the powerful reminder of their mortality.

"...Shit..." Klein muttered, "What happened here...?"

"A-Are those real?" Dale whispered.

Kirito answered only loud enough for Fuurinkazan to hear her, though some of her words did slip through the curious gaps, "No, a player wouldn't leave behind a corpse in SAO. Those are just decorations for the sake of the story, though they didn't exist during the beta."

"Decorations for the story?!" Harry One incredulous piped up.

"The lore of Sword Art Online is that of a castle in the sky," Kirito started somewhat dully. She only had a mild interest in the story, since her primary reason for playing SAO was for the realistic combat. "For the most part, Aincrad is largely unexplored and so it's up to the players to explore it," her eyes narrowly focused onto the skeletons, "From a narrative point of view... we simply weren't the first group of people who have tried passing through here."

Klein, Dale, Harry One, Kunimittz, Dynamm, and Isshin all grimaced.

The bleached old white and brittle cracked bones, the worn and torn leather and rusted encrusted steel plates, the dried up blood bowls that sat below. The boss-raiding parties whispered amongst themselves, they thought and felt of the impaled skeletons as an ill omen of things to come.

Many of the players were so focused on the corpses that they yelled in horror when a single skeleton had suddenly rattled and then fell, only to shatter into thousands of tiny lights upon impact with the harsh ground. Their eyes moved onto the sole person who stood in front at the base of the terror banner: Diabel with his sword wrapped in hand.

The Hero turned on his heel and his gaze encompassed everyone.

"We cannot be scared here. We cannot falter from something like this. This parade of death..." He swung his blade and cut down the closest pike, "after today they will all be replaced with the banners of our victory!" The rest of the skeletons were swiftly cut loose by the members of the Aces Of Stars. Diabel walked over to the double doors and simply _pushed_ them open with one hand, "Those with courage and strength: come! Follow me to the depths of hell and return triumph!" He smirked at them all confidently, "Today, we make history," and walked through with his party trailing right behind.

Kibaou snorted, "Fucking show off," and growled at his men, "Come on, move your damn asses!" His party quickly ran forward.

Agil patted the shoulder of the other party leader - Renegade Spade, "Let's go, we're the attack groups; they can't do this without us." And their two parties moved onward.

Heathcliff Of The Steel merely walked with his usual stern face. He expected his men to follow behind without need of an order, and followed they did. The party moved in a well displicined march.

Shintouyu The Silent Knight armed himself with his shield and sword, giving a nod to each member of his party - who all returned the gesture, and they strode forward.

Only Kirito's and Klein's party were left.

Kirito was impressed by Diabel. The man had once again uplifted their dampened spirits with some inspiring words and actions, he easily kept the momentum going. _'He really is suited to the role of Hero... or maybe a politician instead.'_

"So I guess we're really doing this, huh?" Klein asked, his voice was somewhere in between excitement and dread as it was still rather surreal that failure meant death in this fantasy world.

"It would seem so..." She answered him. She wanted to warn him - to tell him that he should retreat if anything went wrong - but she couldn't, not anymore. To her and him, and the rest of Fuurinkazan, there was no turning back, this was something they chose and decided long ago. They will fight because their lives and futures are on the line.

Kirito unsheathed her Anneal Blade and Full Knight Longsword, "Let's go."

[...]

Cauldrons bubbled, roast-pits crackled, blazers flickered, the rectangular throne room of The Kobold Lord was more akin to a morbid eating ground, numerous piles of bones, more pikes and impaled victims, the insides were no more different in appearance than the ruins seen when outside, adequate lighting, flat terrain, enough space for movement, on the far side was the boss monster, Illfang, itself snarling at them with two Kobold Sentinels on each side.

It had not attacked yet simply because the boss-raiding party had not walked far enough in for the boss-fight to start. They all still had a chance to leave through the opened doors because, once the boss fight started, they could only exit by opening the doors which would incur a fifteen seconds delay before it would even start opening up - meaning the delay was actually around a full twenty seconds - and anyone still remaining inside after two minutes would be trapped forever - unless they had a Teleportation Crystal, which did not exist on the First Stratum.

That was how it was in Beta and Kirito hoped that it hadn't changed as she wasn't willingly to test it out either.

Red in coloration with blackish-blue tribal markings all over, wielding a giant scimitar called Illfang's Jagged Beheader in its right hand and a buckler in its left, covered in light leather armor with some metal-plating around the head, waist, wrist, and ankles, and behind its back near the waist was its secondary weapon; Illfang was almost exactly how Kirito remembered it to be.

The only differences from then and now was that Illfang's supposed Talwar was hidden by a tarp this time around. Her eyes examined the unknown weapon but nothing gave away what it could be, only that - whatever the secondary weapon was - it was at least a Curved Sword.

Tension was high and apprehensive. The good mood was once more so easily dashed since the possibility of death that was always nagging at the back of their minds was now brought to the forefront of reality. But nobody here was willing to back away, none of them wanted to be labeled as cowards or weaklings - even though such insults were only in their imaginations, as nobody would have really held a grudged against the other in this situation.

Diabel stood in front of the crowd amongst the boss-raiding parties. His Full Knight Blade's tip was touching the ground as he used it like a cane and his Templar Heatershield was already strapped onto his left wrist.

"Attack Group, form up! B to my right; behind us, C on the left and D on the right!" The parties led by B Leader Agil, C Leader Renegade Spade, and D Leader Kibaou reorganized themselves. "Sentinel Group, G to our left and H to our right!" G Leader Klein and the rest of Fuurinkazan gave a nod to Kirito and Asuna before parting ways. "Defense Group, E and F in front of me!" The formation finished as E Leader Shintouyu and F Leader Heathcliff moved into place.

This was a good formation - if not completely standard - to used against the First Stratum Boss; the guardian groups with their shields were meant to take the brunt of the initial charge and the assault groups were in a decent position to move according to the given reaction.

But Diabel was done yet and continued to give out orders, "Group F, form an evenly spread of pairs into a horizontal line. Group E, do the same; but leave two spotters as to watch the Assault Group's flank against stray Sentinels." His booming confidence and quick organization was swiftly bringing back the lost morale, "Groups G and H split into two groups of threes; each squad take your pick of the Kobold Sentinels!"

Diabel plucked his sword from the ground.

"Defense Group, you know the plan: shields up and forward, surround Illfang in a semi-circle, and be prepared to ward off its attacks. We, Group A and B, will slip through the open gaps and charge Illfang with Sword Skills before retreating behind the shield-line, thus letting Group C and D take our place. We shall repeat this until either Illfang is dead or I say otherwise!"

"Yes, Hero!" "Yes, Diabel!" "Yes, Sir!"

"Take heart, my fellow players, for starting today we take our first step in defeating and escaping from Sword Art Online!" Diabel swung his sword, the tip pointing upward to the ceiling, "Charge! To victory!"

[...]

"Stay close to me," Kirito said to Asuna as she led her half-sized group.

In her group was herself, Asuna, and a player by the name of Dragon Core X - a dual-blader, a fencer, and a tank, respectively. While the other half of her party was comprised of a swordsman, a spear-user, and another tank.

The hooded fencer nodded as she trailed behind the Black Queen. Out of the entire party, Asuna was the fastest - followed by Kirito - due to her higher DEX, so she had to slow down as to not speed ahead.

Kirito raced forward, ignoring the outcome of the attack against Illfang, and completely focused on the target before her: the Kobold Sentinel.

The monster was lithe in form and was covered almost completely in medium armor to the point that it looked like the Kobold's equivalent of a helmeted knight. The Sentinel wielded a heavy Two-Handed Mace - the mace head appeared to have simply been a large and round but bumpy piece of stone taken from the ruins and then attached to a shaft - as its choice of weapon. However, contrary to its armor and weapon, the Kobold Sentinel was deceivingly fast - only a tad noticeably slower than Kirito.

Kirito planted her forward right foot down and stopped, she twisted her body in preparation for a right-bottom up Slant with both of her blades. The Kobold Sentinel ran into her range as it lifted up its heavy mace for an arced overhead swing. The different weapons made noisy contact with one another but only the Sentinel stumbled back by the force of the double Sword Skills.

The Black Queen gritted her teeth. The greatest advantage of dual-wielding was that she could - if her concentration held - perform an endless combo with little to no cooldown by using one Sword Skill after another - using two Sword Skills together at once was little more than a powered-up attack. However, to properly use an endless combo, it would be better suited for a one versus one situation where Kirito understood everything about her opponent - though the Kobold Sentinel looked unchanged, it might not be the same monster as it was in beta.

She could not take advantage of the Sentinel's stumbling state for they both would recover at the same time. But she didn't need to, Kirito was not fighting alone - even though she was a Solo Player, she knew how to play team when necessary.

Asuna came streaking in, taking advantage of the Kobold's pause, and let loose a salvo of precise Linears at its exposed joints. The speed of her attacks were so quick that she could perform a simple endless combo using Linear by herself if she wanted to.

But the Kobold Sentinel was not to be underestimated. It was as strong as a mini-boss and could not be killed with such a prickling barrage. It quickly regained its footing and hissed at the two female players. The beast charge them but they had already clearly moved out of its way.

Dragon Core X - Dracorex - shouted as his shield was rammed against the speeding Sentinel. The male player lost his balance as he messily stumbled backward and tripped on his feet due to the sheer force and bulk of the larger monster.

The Sentinel roared and lifted its mace above its head, but was blow away when Kirito shot toward it like a bullet with a double Linear that stabbed into the torso region of its flesh and armor. The monster was shoved away from the downed player only moments before its mace smashed into the ground.

Kirito unleashed a Vertical, her Full Knight Longsword carving upward and her Anneal Blade cutting down, and cleanly destroyed a large segment of the Sentinel's HP. The Kobold screeched in pain and then hung its head downward; Asuna was already standing in front it, her rapier gleamed green and the beast did not even get a chance to snarl before the thin sword pierced through the slits of its helmet. The sharp pointed blade easily bypassed the data which represented the monster's skin, bones, tissues, and brain matter, and promptly delivered a fatal blow.

As the Kobold Sentinel shattered into fragmented cubes by the critical hit, Kirito took a quick glance at the battle with Illfang. The boss' HP was still more than half, _'Good,'_ the second wave of Sentinels shouldn't be spawning yet. Seeing that the Assault Group - and Fuurinkazan from what little she could peek - had everything under control, she turned her attention back to the other half of her group.

As along as Kirito was the Party Leader, she would try her damned hardest not to let anybody die under her watch, "Let's move," she told Asuna and Dracorex - who had scrambled back onto his feet by now - and ran toward the other Kobold Sentinel.

[...]

The second wave of Kobold Sentinels were no different than the first. The pair of monsters were no more stronger nor weaker than the last and popped out from the holes in the wall almost immediately after Illfang's Health had gone from four bars to three.

For Klein and his group, it was not a matter of killing the monster as Fuurinkazan had no trouble there. After all, they had learned to fight by the very best - and even occasionally had an informal duel with Kirito within the protection of the towns - and their greatly fluid teamwork was built and strengthened by the many other MMOs they had played together before. Rather the problematic case was that they couldn't kill the Sentinels quick enough before the next wave would spawn.

They had just barely beaten the first pair when the second pair had then appeared - and though their HP were still in good shape - they wouldn't last by the fourth wave if they didn't get a decent amount of time in between to drink a health potion.

Fuurinkazan did not have the near reckless fighting style of Kirito and their overall stats were more evenly distributed - primarily in DEX following STR or priming in STR and seconding in END - than Kirito's almost completely monstrous STR-build - not to mention her dual-wielding - so they were not quite in the same league as the powerhouse known as the Black Queen.

However, there was something that Kirito taught them and that was to be quick learners. Reading guidebooks on how to monsters fought would never be a good replacement for actually facing off against said monsters. It was a good thing then that they had speedily acquainted themselves with how a Kobold Sentinel moved and attacked; this time they would finish off the monsters sooner.

In Klein's three-man group was himself, Isshin the spearman, and Harry One the tank. In the other group was Dale the swordsman, Dynamm the tank, and Kunimittz the spearman.

Kirito and her group fought in constant motion using herding and their fights could find the players moving anywhere and everywhere on the battlefield. Fuurinkazan on the other hand fought in a more conventional style called 'Stack Duel' where the players formed a line to face off against the monster and would 'switch' place in succeeding order. Though, in Klein's case, the formation was in the shape of a triangle and was more similar to a rotating manner - whatever the case, their fight would almost certainly stay within the small radius that they had first engaged their opponent in.

Harry One grunted as blow after blow from the Kobold's standard string of attacks pounded at his shield. His role was to block these attacks alongside any Sword Skills - actually called Mace Skills in this instance - from the monster. The final eighth overhead strike struck like thunder and caused his knees to buckle, but he held firm. "NOW!"

At a moment earlier, while the Kobold's attention was distracted, in one fluid motion Klein shouted and jumped in, he settled into the Savage Stance and unleashed a Savage Horizon at the monster's midsection. When the mace finally clanged against Harry One's shield, the samurai was already in motion with a Wild Stance - one leg bent forward, while the weapon's arm and opposite leg were stretched back - and activated the Wild Slash which once again sliced at the midsection.

Savage Stance for Savage Horizon and Wild Stance for Wild Slash; Savage Stance into Wild Stance, Savage Horizon followed by Wild Slash, and then back. Klein was demonstrating the fundamental strengths of using Stances: Endless Combos. Unlike Kirito's combos which required extreme concentration to manipulate the separate arms to perform exactly how a player wanted to, and unlike Asuna's simple but not necessarily powerful Linear combo, Stances combined the best of both - the smoothness of transition and simplicity of performance.

A stance led to a sword skill, a sword skill into another stance, that stance revealed another sword skill, and then back into a stance once more. The entire motion was easy and almost effortless to do. The only weakness of Stances were the fact that the players could not move from their position - unlike many other Sword Skills which simply required arm-gestures rather than body-gestures, therefore allowing a player to run while performing a Sword Skill - leaving them rather vulnerable against more quick-footed enemies.

"UUOOOHHHHH!" In a matter of seconds, Klein had let loose four superb hits against the Kobold Sentinel. But he wasn't going to sticking around after landing his fifth. "SWITCH!" he shouted as his body finally felt the cooldown effects weighing on him.

Harry One stepped away from the rising mace and Isshin immediately took his place.

"HAAAHHHH!" The spearman artist jabbed furiously with his Mad Frenzy Boar Bident and quickly gained the Sentinel's hate - its aggro - within moments.

From what Fuurinkazan had already gathered, the Kobold Sentinel's general attack pattern was: Basic eight-hit combo, roar, Mace Skill, roar, and repeat. Meanwhile, the Mace Skills were possibly the Whirlwind, Vertical, Horizontal, Slant, or Heavy versions of them. It was painlessly easy for Fuurinkazan to predict the monsters moves - even if it did sometimes do something different than usual, like swiping its tail or trying to escape - because the stance it took after roaring was unmistakable.

Isshin continued his jabs as the Kobold roared. The monster curled its arms back and twisted its body slightly. The attack could have been either a Heavy Whirlwind or Heavy Horizontal - almost completely the same in form - but there was a key difference between discovering the two: the stances. The Sentinel's legs were spread far apart for balance indicating the use of Whirlwind and not Horizontal.

Isshin did not need to switch yet. This was a perfect opportunity for him to continue to his attack since he was just outside of the monster's attack range because of his bident. The Kobold's mace glowed orange and in return Isshin stopped his own attacks, shifted into the Stinger Stance, and his weapon began to glimmer purple.

The monster screeched as it activated it Mace Skill and twirled into a blur but Isshin countered with a barrage of Stinger Linear. Mace Skills met Spear Skills as the Mad Frenzy Boar Bident created sparks upon sparks as it collided with the Sentinel's spinning weapon and armor. The spearman grunted with each clash but kept on the pressure.

Whirlwind was one of the few Skills that increased the user's defense for the duration of the skill, thus Isshin's spear was losing durability amazingly quick and it wouldn't be surprising if it broke soon after - however, any player worth their experience knew to keep spare weapons stocked in their inventory; something Kirito had drilled into Fuurikazan.

Because of Isshin's smaller size, his spear was aimed upwards to hit his target; however, his target was not the Sentinel but its weapon. Suddenly and luckily, before Heavy Whirlwind ended, the Mad Frenzy Boar Bident was able to snatch the shaft of the Kobold's mace and lifted it off-course; Isshin grinned and laughed.

The monster and the player tremendously flinched and suffered under Stunned as their respective Skills canceled each other out in a glass-breaking bang.

Klein and Harry One didn't miss a beat as they jumped in and delivered Sword Skills after Sword Skills unto the Sentinel. By the time the beast was out of the effects of Stun, it's health was almost dead gone, and yet it still shook its head to get itself out of its rut - a terrible mistake. Isshin didn't bother to clear his head, he simply motioned into the Bull Stance for a heavier attack and simply let the Spear Skill move his body - the monster was right in front of him, he couldn't miss.

"UUOOOHHHHH!" The three men roared as their Skills hacked the Sentinel into pieces. Ending the creature's life within moments.

Klein breathed in and then breathed out heavily. His eyes darted to the other team and saw they were doing fine - their Kobold would be finished in seconds, and then his eyes darted to Illfang, "Still got enough HP before the second-bar is gone." He took another deep breath, "Drink a potion and switch ya weapons, guys; we can relax for the moment."

"Aye!"

[...]

Diabel smirked to himself; Illfang's third-bar was almost depleted. It had taken about twenty-five minutes for the first, twenty minutes for the second, and - now as the players got into the flow of the fight - fifteen minutes for the third. His smirk grew alittle wider, Illfang the Kobold Lord was only a little stronger than beta.

Speaking of beta, his smirk grew into a grin as he carefully eyed the Black Queen, the Man Of Steel, and the Silent Knight off to the sides. Including him, they were the only four beta-testers in this boss-raid - he didn't believe himself wrong on that. Diabel was pleased that none of them were the leadership type, leaving only him to unite and command the rabble of common players - them included.

_'Sorry, but I'll be getting the LAB,'_ he snickered to himself almost in a hum.

LAB; Last Attack Bonus, was a special bonus for players who got the last attack on the boss - or mini-boss - where they would earn themselves more col and rare items than anyone else in the raid-group.

Though Kirito and Agil made fine points during the first meeting, the Hero had long come to the decision of just why any beta-tester would join a boss-raid: for the chance to get the LAB. It was a known 'fact' to most hardcore players that MMORPGs were all about acquiring resources before anybody else.

These three - the four of them - were the most greedy of the beta-testers, unlike the other cowards who were scared of even being ousted as a beta-tester, they were willing to take the risk for the grand rewards that were to be had. How did he know? Diabel didn't believe in bravery amongst the beta-testers, only greed, and after the little show that his secret and loyal follower Kibaou had performed, truly only the most greedy of beta-testers would remain.

That's why he did not include any of them in the Assault Group and placed them as far as possible away from the Boss.

But it's not as if Diabel disliked them or anything, in fact, he believed that he could get along rather well with them all since they were all going to work together for the days to come. Maybe even confirm for them that he was a fellow beta-tester much further down along the line. It's just that - in the unspoken rules of all things - every player was looking out for their own well-being first and foremost and Diabel himself was no exception.

Even though he was using the other players for his own benefit, Diabel was by no means unsympathetic as they were all in this together after all. In truth, he wouldn't have made himself 'the Hero' if he didn't think he could handle the position of leadership; he had no plans whatsoever for anybody to die in this boss-raid.

As someone who had invested quite a bit into the beta, Diabel knew what to expect up through the next four Strata, and had planned accordingly. He would lead the players into victorious and perfect battles - just like he is right now - using his experiences and gather as much resources as he could. After all, the Sixth Stratum was unknown territory, but by then there should be some feisty guilds wanting to prove themselves and he could always make up an excuse to let them led the boss-raid. And, after some players die - which they unfortunately will, he silently knew - he would rouse up the players with a moving speech about expecting death and what not, thus securing his position as raid-leader once more without all the heavy expectations that nobody will die and everything will go swell.

In Diabel's mind, it was a perfect plan and very few things could go wrong.

He had read Argo's guide and cross-referenced everything he remembered of how Sword Art Online was now and compared to how it was in beta. He knew confidently that most changes were subtle.

300 beta-testers had died from monsters, that was true, but he figured that only about 100 of them were hardcore and crazy enough to keep playing on a very thin and dangerous line - even the smallest of changes resulted in their bare margin of safety to be completely negated and resulted in death. He believed that the real reason that the rest of them had died was because they had cracked under pressure in the middle of battle - too strong to contemplate suicide but too weak to keep it together.

Diabel was not like them, he refused to be like them, he wouldn't let himself crack or break. He was going to make it through this death-game one way or another.

Thinking about such depressing things had already cause his smile to wither away into a mask of grim neutrality. He sucked in his saliva and smirked once again, he always had to look confident, he always had to be confident; his moniker was the Hero for a reason.

C Renegade Spade and D Kibaou were retreating back from the frontlines. Now it was up to him and B Agil to attack Illfang again and finally break the boss' third-bar. His smirk changed into a slightly natural one, he was so close to that LAB now - no matter how the rotations occur, either he himself would get the last hit or Kibaou would, as he could order them to back away or his follower would scare them clear; ultimately, in the end, he would get the rare item.

His group struck fast and hard and Illfang's latest health bar broke with the sound of glass.

"Stand clear!" Diabel shouted. As always, Illfang would messily stomp around and then perform a Whirlwind to finish off anyone still standing nearby, afterward it would follow up with a challenging roar. However, it was boringly easy to avoid if you knew it was coming.

As expected, the boss did exactly what Diabel predicted it would. When this little tantrum would be over, the Kobold Lord was simply going to be mobbed by the players again and it would be dead soon enough. The only reason why Group A and B were waiting around was because Illfang was invincible during the short phase and standing next to its roar was debilitating as it could inflict Fear - a passive debuff that lowered attack damage and Sword Skill activation rate.

Diabel was about to signal the charge but then froze solid. Before him, Illfang brutally discarded his Scimitar and Buckler across the boss-room and its hand menacingly reached for the secondary weapon on its back.

_'But its... its health isn't red yet!?'_

Back in beta, Illfang would only pull out his Talwar when he had reached 10% of his last bar. Diabel had guessed that it might have been changed to 20% or 30%, maybe even 50%, but not at 100%.

_'No, I can still salvage this!'_ The Hero was ready to shout his voice hitched and caught in his throat. Illfang threw away the brown tarp that hid his splendid weapon of death from view. And his mind had a panic attack at the sight before him.

It was not a Talwar.

[...]

Kirito had only taken a glance at Illfang before the fourth and final wave of Kobold Sentinel spawned, but she knew that something wrong had occurred. It was just a glimpse, only a fleeting glimpse, but she knew that the weapon in Illfang's hand was not a Talwar. It was some kind of Japanese sword but she couldn't figure out what damn sword it was, as she didn't even know SAO had them.

She growled and let out a subdue curse.

This was bad and her entire body was screaming at her. It was an unknown, a threat, her safety was completely at risk now.

_'One problem at a time, Rika... Focus,'_ she told herself. The Kobold Sentinel was a more immediate threat and there was no way she could turn her back on the monster. She gritted her teeth,_ 'Sentinel first, Illfang later.'_

"Asuna; help the other group!" Kirito shouted. The hooded girl paused and then nodded, she grabbed Dracorex and moved on to help the other players of their party.

The Black Queen frowned, taking down a near full-health Kobold Sentinel on her own would not be easy. But it could fairly be quick if she took some dangerous risks.

[...]

_'Get yourself together!_' Diabel blinked as reality returned to him. He didn't know what happened, he had blanked out. His mind reeled, trying to piece together the missing memories within his limited time span. _'Ah...'_

Illfang was in front of him with its unknown blade raised and shimmering a terrible blood red, completely ready to deliver the killing blow.

_'...Move...!'_

But he couldn't, he realized, he was Stunned - next to his name and health bar, there was a blue star symbol. Ten seconds? Fifteen seconds? How long it would last, he didn't know, but it felt like an eternity of waiting.

The monster, it chuckled and sneered at him, eyeing him like a pathetic piece of meat.

_'No, no, no. No. No. No. NO!'_

As the Kobold's weapon made its rapid reaping descent, Diabel suddenly felt his body becoming weightless. _'Urgh...?'_ Someone had thrown him before the blade could hit.

He squinted his eyes and tried to focus. He saw Shintouyu and Heathcliff taking his place.

_'Why?'_ He didn't understand. They had to know that he was a beta-tester, that he was their competition and each other. Yeah, it would be a shame if he died - Diabel would admit that he was absolutely scared of dying - but life moves on, that was it. _'Why?'_ What reason could they possibly have to risk their lives for his?

He thought. He kept thinking even when his body hit the floor. He thought. He kept thinking even when he heard shouting. He thought. He kept thinking even when he felt multiple hands dragging him to safety. He thought. He kept thinking and wondering why he was crying such warm tears.

[...]

Klein observed the battle. He knew Kirito would kill him for taking his eyes off the fight with the Kobold Sentinel, but he couldn't resist. When he had seen that fine Japanese blade in Illfang's hand, that magnificent - if he was not wrong - Nodachi made fit for the Kobold Lord's size.

The samurai was giddy,_ 'Japanese swords do exist!'_ It felt great knowing that he could pick up a Nodachi perhaps even a Katana or a Wakizashi. But then his excitement quickly turned to horror when he realized that the boss was about to unleash a Sword Skill amongst the uneasy players of Group A and B that surrounded it.

He wanted to run and intercept. In fact, he did run. But he was held back by Isshin's firm hands, "We need you here, Klein; can't do this without you," he barely heard his friend say over his own gritted teeth.

"Shit! RUN!" Klein shouted at the Assault Group.

But the only movement that had come was from the players being tossed aside from a tremendous Sword Skill.

Illfang's weapon had glowed a dark green and - contrary to its immense size - the monster leapt into the air and then struck down with its sword like a meteor. The resulting energy sent everybody - even the Defense Groups - flying away. The closest players were already down from nearly full to a little less than half-health with that one attack.

Klein's legs locked up, "HOLY FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

Isshin pushed him with one hand, "Get going, Klein!"

"We can handle this without you, man!" Harry One shouted over the clang of the Sentinel's mace hitting his shield, "Good luck!"

Klein nodded and then ran. He wasn't sure what he could do but he was going to do something, anything, at all.

As he ran his heart began to beat even faster than before and if he could sweat then he would have been drenched all over.

Everybody in the Assault Groups and Defense Groups were too shocked to move, Illfang's lengthy cooldown went unanswered and the monster simply whipped back into form and roared once more. It did not even take a moment for it to find a new prey - Diabel The Hero who was hunched over and Stunned, simultaneously the strongest and weakest threat nearby. The Kobold Lord moved toward the immobile player and raised its Nodachi high up into the air with one hand instead of two, the blade glowed an enveloping sinister red.

Everyone was so focused, so hauntingly mesmerized by the Nodachi, that only Klein had seen Shintouyu and Heathcliff running towards the Hero's aid, arriving as the blade made its descent.

Shintouyu had gotten there first and raised his Honorable Warrior's Kiteshield defiantly as the Sword Skill made impact against him. Heathcliff arrived only a moment later, his hand grabbed Diabel's collar and then threw him far away as possible. The Silent Knight was soon sent spiraling away by the immense Sword Skill as his body collided, skid, bounced, and rolled all over the unforgiving floor - for the first time, players had clearly heard the man beneath the armor as he grunted and groaned with every hardened slap of his body on the floor.

He laid silently on the ground for a few moments before groggily picking himself up with haste. Shintouyu brought out a health potion and quickly - somehow - drank it through his sealed helmet before rushing off.

The Man Of Steel fared better with the Sword Skill losing much of its initial momentum. Within a split-second the graying-haired player had instantaneously put up his guard, holding up his Crimson Knight Towershield with two hands. The oversized blade struck his defense and Heathcliff narrowed his face with gritted teeth. A gurgled voice rumbled from his throat as he his feet skid over the ground, the force of the attack pushing him far away like that of a driver hastily trying to stop a speeding vehicle.

Illfang snickered at the two meager humans and then eyed another nearby fallen warrior. But before the Kobold Lord could change targets, Shintouyu rammed himself on its leg and garnered its aggro once more. The monster sneered in contempt as it tried to bash the armored-player away but Heathcliff had quickly returned to reinforce the shattered defensive line.

All the meanwhile, Klein was the first person to reach Diabel's fallen form. He slipped his arms underneath the Hero's armpits and dragged him to the safety of Groups C and D - several other players noticed his action and messily went to assist.

"GET THE OTHER GUYS OVER HERE!" The Red Comet shouted to them, "THEY NEED HELP TOO! HURRY!" and the still somewhat dazed members of the remaining Assault Groups reacted in acceptance of his words - the only one who had not left was Kibaou who quickly fussed over the fallen Hero. Hastily, Klein pulled out a Health Potion from his pouch and practically shoved the drink into Diabel's mouth; the man's hit-points was now slowly going back up.

Klein licked his lips and then stood up, "Anybody with a shield, intercept the boss but don't surround 'em!" and immediately took charge of the situation.

[...]

Kirito had at first fought safely, losing as little HP as she could, but now she was fighting faster and harder and was entirely willing to lose more health if it meant taking down the Kobold Sentinel even quicker. She was almost trading blow for blow with the monster; almost.

She had a wicked grinned because the Sentinel was responding just like it did during beta, she knew more or less how it would move and react after facing three waves. She lead the monster's pattern, making it move quickly into the desire position; the Kobold raised its mace far above its head for a Heavy Vertical - just what she wanted. Ruthlessly her swords stabbed forward in a blazing double Linear and struck into the throat of the beast - a critical hit.

It was instant death for the Sentinel which perished with a gurgle.

But Kirito didn't bother pausing, she was already on the move the moment she regained control of her body, and rushed over to help Asuna and crew. If the Sentinels had more situational awareness, she would have took her time, but these monsters were incredibly easy to catch off guard and blind-side.

The Black Queen's legs kicked off the floor with a loud thud, her blades angled downward like a pair of fangs struck through the side-armor and into the neck of the monster. Her fast momentum had enough force to send the monster sliding onto the ground head first. Kirito planted her feet firmly, twisted her blades, and then unleashed double Horizontal that lopped off the head.

As the monster disintegrated beneath her feet and as she dropped lightly onto the floor, Kirito took a look at how the main boss-battle was going.

Things had rapidly changed.

The defensive-line was no longer a semi-circle surrounding Illfang. It now just several rows of tanks, shields up, in a very standard formation taking the brunt of the boss' attacks - as a row reached their breaking point, they would immediately switch out. Behind every row was - as much as they could muster - every available spearmen trying to use the intentional gaps in their defenses to lash out against the Kobold Lord.

The only exception was the single row which consisted only of the Silent Knight and the Man Of Steel with no support of their own. They _were_ the support - their equipments and level were high enough that they could count as two-and-a-half tanks of their own - and together they were the impenetrable shields against Illfang's powerful Sword Skills.

But that was about all the time Kirito was willing to wait and watch.

She called out to her party, "Let's go, it's time we head to the front-lines."

[...]

Diabel watched the battle unfold with a strange sense of surreal - Kibaou hovered near him in a odd expression of concern that didn't fit the thuggish-looking player.

He saw the Red Comet shouting orders clearly and as accurately as he could, trying to find as much weaknesses as possible while the tanks had potions to burn.

_'This is what I get for not scouting...'_ He thought bitterly.

He had stood and watched as Shintouyu and Heathcliff withstood Sword Skills after Sword Skills, standing tall like gods amongst men. He had stood and watched as Kirito kill off the Kobold Sentinels with bloody fury, a black phantom of death. Diabel chuckled, feeling all too lowly and miniscule in their presence now.

"Diabel..." Kiabou mumbled.

The Hero responded slowly, "I'm fine... I'm... fine, Kibaou." He closed his eyes and breathed in and breathed out, breathed in and out, in and out; he sheathed his sword and put away his shield.

"Diabel?"

He didn't deserve the LAB, that much was certain. He walked over to the leading samurai, "Hello, Sir Klein."

The red haired man stopped momentarily, before shouting another order, and then returning the greeting, "Ah, Diabel! You alright now, man?"

The Hero nodded wryly, "Thanks to you, I believe."

"No problem!" Klein responded and then blinked, "Oi! You guys, if you've got the Throwing Skills, ya better start using them!"

"You make an excellent leader, Sir Klein."

"Thanks, but you'r-"

Diabel cut his compliment off, "No, I am not. I am... more of a strategist or figure head than a real leader," he decided to use less self-deprecating words but berated himself quite harshly inwardly.

Klein stared at him before placing a hand on the other player's shoulder, "I can see you've got a lot on your mind... but trust me, you're the guy who is gonna lead us outta here. Me? I can run a party, maybe a small guild, but I can't command an army."

"Klein," came Kirito's nearby bell-like voice; it was certainly a clear and yet easy to hear oddity amongst the roar of men and monsters and the clanging of steel against steel.

The two men looked at her before Klein went back to speaking with Diabel, "Personally, I'm more of a fighter and I do better if I'm working alongside the princess, ya know?" The samurai smirked and held out a hand.

Diabel stared at it for a moment. His lips curled only lightly but it was enough to be a smile, and he shook the given hand, "I see."

"Good luck, I know you'll do fine, Hero!" Klein gave a quick salute before scampering off to meet the Dual-Blader.

"I will," Diabel whispered, "I will..."

Things where different from beta but he had already figure out the pattern to Illfang's attacks.

"Everyone!" Diabel shouted after mustering his voice, "Our counter-attack begins here!"

[...]

"Where's Dynamm and the rest?" Kirito asked the approaching Klein.

The older man shifted nervously before chuckling, "Uh, that is, well..."

She narrowed her eyes and moved onward to the frontlines - that is, the area behind the all the tanks - she would scold Klein later. Right now, she couldn't do anything yet, attacking out of order could result in terribly bad conclusions. So she chatted and waited.

"So how is it, Klein? Your first Boss-Raid in SAO?"

"It's nerve-wracking, Kirito. Boss-Fights, they're suppose to be, ya know, exciting, but this... scary stuff; can't enjoy it at all."

She didn't answer back and turned to the hooded fencer, "And you, Asuna?"

The other girl merely nodded and spoke quietly, "I am not used to fighting along side so many players..."

It was then that the rest of Fuurinkazan strolled over.

"Yo! Miss us?" Harry One waved at them.

"Taking out two Kobold Sentinels on our own; they were a lot tougher than we gave them credit for," Kunimittz said.

"Simple but dangerous foes," Dynamm added.

Isshin chuckled, "So, anything we missed? What's the plan?"

They looked towards Kirito for an answer. Diabel's voice cut through the crowd as he mobilized the offensive for the first time since Illfang had changed weapons. "The plan, huh?" Kirito smirked and spoke bluntly, "We kill it." The group of players cheered - though Kirito's own team was a bit more subdued - and split off. "Don't die," she added in quietly.

[...]

Illfang's attack pattern may have changed, the monster may have chained its combo more fluidly and it also preferred attacking newcomers rather than focus on the previous ones, but there were still holes in its pattern to exploit - and Diabel had not missed a single one of them.

The players had lost territory as they let the Kobold Lord push them back to the center of the boss-room. But that was fine, they needed the space. Instead of trying to hold their ground, the tactic had changed into a massive hit-and-run display.

The Assault Group had rearranged into three large crowds: Kirito leading the Right, Klein to the Left, and Agil from the Back. Leaving Diabel in charge of the Defense Group.

Only one group at a time was always fighting Illfang - nobody was to surround it and make it feel trapped, otherwise it would most likely use its Area-Of-Effect - AOE - Sword Skill from before. It was complete and utter harassment as every group charged in, one after the other, before swiftly retreating out of reach - they couldn't stick around because Illfang was quick to start up a sweeping Sword Skill.

Charge in and pull out; it was such a simple yet effective tactic against the renewed Kobold Lord.

But this was a battle of attrition. Illfang always got in a few hits before everyone could evacuate per charge, even the tanks were wearing down simply due to the fact that they were the ones who were taking the Sword Skills if the boss got too feisty - which was very often. The fast-pace action countered the slow-healing potions and it was only a matter of time before every player would be finding themselves in the red - players felt like their hearts would burst out of their chest every time they compared their dropping health and supplies to the Kobold Lord's own huge bar. That was not to even forget about all the mental stress they were all feeling the longer the battle took.

By the time Illfang's health dropped to ten percent, a majority of the newly made Assault Group couldn't carry on anymore without risking death and had to back far away to recuperate.

"This is it!" Diabel shouted, "Klein, Kirito, Shintouyu, Heathcliff, and Agil; I- We leave this all up to you now!"

The five players, plus Asuna at Kirito's tug, charged in against the Kobold Lord. They had the best health of the group, all hovering at sixty to seventy-percent health - but two direct Sword Skills or several clean regular attacks would be enough to kill them if they weren't careful.

Illfang snarled at them ferociously and prepared a Sword Skill, its Nodachi met the Silent Knight's shield and swat him away like a tiny foul pest. From behind, Klein struck the monster's tail with a flurry of rapid Sword Skills, and from the sides Agil swung his mighty battle-axe and Kirito let loose her dual-wielding.

It was surrounded, but there was not enough targets to warrant the use of its Sword Skill called Whirling Wheel. Instead, the Kobold King choose to sweep the players with its large tail, however Heathcliff was already there - backed by Klein - with his shield pushing back against the tail's hefty motion and Asuna was fleet of foot as she sent a barrage of Linears against its unprotected stomach. Illfang growled at them when its attack was stopped three-fourths of its way.

Illfang was so angry that the monster seemed to have turned a shade of red even brighter than before. It lifted its glowing Nodachi high into the air, but this time it was not using one hand but two - an unknown Sword Skill. It let loose a roar and swung down, there was no target in sight - it was definitely using an AOE Sword Skill. Immediately, Kirito, Shintouyu, and Heathcliff ran under the blade and lifted up their swords or shields; they couldn't let this attack hit the ground or it would wipe them all out. The Silent Knight and Man Of Steel activated Shield Bash while the Black Queen went for a double Horizontal.

Four skills met one and they grinded against each other with immense pressure like crashing thunder. Neither side could press the other and eventually their attacks bounced off and the heavy recoil had Stunned all the users. All at once, Agil, Asuna, and Klein roared as they came in and struck the Kobold Lord together with blinding and furious Sword Skills.

_Beep._

Illfang eye's seemed to bulge out before they turned glassy. It dropped its Nodachi as its final health bar shattered. The Kobold King's body turned black as chunks of its flesh exploded into dreadful dark fragments. Soon, nothing was left and the last shimmer of Illfang's existence had simply disappeared.

Silence settled in.

Illfang The Kobold Lord was dead.

Thus, they had beaten the master of the First Stratum.

It started slowly but a victorious and infectious cheer filled the air soon enough.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Longest chapter ever for this story.

I stopped _italicizing_ words in between the '-' because, well, it didn't work out as cleanly as I would like.

This AN is gonna be filled with game-play mechanics...

Sword Skills work a little differently depending on how you use them. For example, Linear has three modes: STR, DEX, and END. Asuna's barrage of Linears is a DEX-Type (which suffers a penalty unless you're using a DEX-Weapon which needs, of course, a DEX-Build to be effective). There's Kirito's use of Linear which can shove a heavier monster is a STR-Type (same prerequisites as DEX only with STR). The END-Type Linear is pretty much the normal way of using the Sword Skill but has no weaknesses or penalties (and actually gets a bonus for using END-Weapons).

So there's a whole lot of mix-and-matching. And this is even before we get into Weapon Damages mentioned in Chapter 3.

For example, Kirito's Anneal Blade is a STR-DEX-END-Weapon meaning 'Tri-Stat-Weapon,' so using any mode of Linear gives a negligible bonus; on the other hand, it counts as a Slash-Weapon and Pierce-Weapon, so it would suffer lesser penalties when using Linear (which is Pierce-Damage). In contrast, we have Klein's Black Wolf Sabre, a Bi-Stat-Weapon of STR-DEX make and counts as a Slash-Weapon; which means it gets better bonuses than the Anneal Blade in using Linear but also suffers greater penalties for not being a Pierce-Weapon. In final comparison, we have Asuna's Razor Talon Rapier a Uni-Stat-Weapon of pure DEX classified solely as a Pierce-Weapon, which simply grants it immense bonuses for using the DEX-Type Linear.

Anyways, on to more ramblings...

Concerning how the lore of SAO moves onto the next floor; at this point in time, the Second Stratum has yet to be explored and populated, therefore there shouldn't be any human presence or buildings. For the sake of player-convenience, the lore treats this as though an immense amount of time has already passed; thus, when the players arrive in the Second Stratum, there is already a bustling city with lots of quests and such.

This is simply gameplay and story segregation (for example, the NPCs in the First Stratum will not age, since the time-lapse is more relevant to the floor it occurs on) so that players don't find quest-givers suddenly dying or being replaced, locations and buildings disappearing or appearing, amongst other things.

The boss-fight was originally going to be much more difficult with more Kobolds spawning on the final bar to support the boss. But then that was too hard, so I decided against it. As far as I want it, the First Ten Strata Bosses are basically Base-Bosses, that is to say that they show what players can mostly expect in future boss-fights.

For example, Illfang shows off Sword Skills, minions, and a weapon/tactic change. There may be other bosses that move around the battlefield a lot, have specific weak-points, different forms, require puzzles to be solved, survive for a length of time, and so forth. In fact, the First Ten Strata can be considered one giant figure-it-out-yourself tutorial as things only get more harder and less forgiving from there...

I keep reminding myself that the Kobold Sentinel are First Stratum monsters so their AI doesn't have superbly advance tactics even if its a mini-boss (like zig-zagging movement, jumping over the enemy, or even taking a hand off its weapon to unexpectedly slap). So they fight somewhat bull-headedly as they're easy to switch aggro...

Canon sorta played around with where the beta-testers stopped. Volume 1 mentioned the 6th Floor as it and Aria In The Starless Night implied at least the 10th Floor. Progressive (which is the remake) probably mentions the 10th as well; but I'm sticking with 6th for this story. So nobody ever knew about the Nodachi ever existing.

* * *

**Review Notes C5**

BakaPervert, Depends, I'm not entirely what you mean by 'thick' concerning the Self-Insert. Am I'm showing him off too much? Or and I'm making him sound too strong? I like to believe that I made his track record relatively even with the other famous four... Anyways, if your primary concern is him being in/stealing the spotlight, well, he won't be - there are no plans for that.

AdorableEldritch, Argo is not big on the whole 'fighting thing' - she does fight, just not in Boss Raids - but I do plan to have her interact often with Kirito and crew.

MorinoRyoushi, I am surprised that this SAO story was found in a FSN forum. Ahem, anyways, Shirou's character would be an interesting addition, unfortunately his tendency to act first and think later combined with his self-sacrificing attribute means that a character like Shirou would most likely be dead by the first week. So if a Shirou-like character did appear in this story, then s/he would have a lot more self-preservation...


	7. Interlude

_**KNIGHTS IN THE NIGHTMARE**_

Interlude

_Designation : Sword Art Online_

_[Peek Into Reality]_

* * *

December 2022.

Head Investigative Officer Fusashiya Homura sniffed his nose as he grinded his cigarette against the ashtray. He pinched the tearducts of his eyes and then into the bridge of his noses as he let out a grayish smog breath. He sat sluggishly on his chair that was placed near to his desk which his laptop laid atop on within the dim lighting of his small and personal investigative work-room.

It has been almost a month now since the digital terrorist act from Kayaba Akihiko and information is becoming scarce.

Homura grunted as he shifted around his stacks of investigative reports for the nth time today. He kept skimming and rereading the reports - nearly all around the clock - just hoping that he somehow stupidly missed something important.

His hands tiredly brought to surface the reports on the Nerve Gear.

It was a head-gear that was proclaimed by scientists and tech-experts to be revolutionary machine that could change the world and, at the same time, its creator Kayaba Akihiko was also stated to be the genius of the century. On the other hand, experts were quite vocal that the Nerve Gear being primarily developed in use for video games was simply appalling and undeserving.

But as Head Investigative Officer, Homura was not required to understand all the jargon or techno-blabber of the extra crowds, he was simply required to know in layman terms what was so important about each and every report.

Early schematics given to the scientific-community before the Nerve Gear's official release had revealed that the Nerve Gear did, in fact, possess a higher level of danger for what would become a house-hold product. However, the danger was easily ignored and deemed no more deadly than owning a kitchen knife or a taser and had an assortment of safety-features - though some people also did notice the Nerve Gear had odd design-inefficiencies, this was glossed over in that it was still a first-generation model even if it was revolutionary.

Because of that, the Nerve Gear - the insidious death-trap waiting to be sprung at a moment's notice - was approved for mass-production with little resistance and was officially in stores by May 2022.

But, even if people had thoroughly examined the headwear the best they could, the actual beast of evil that laid hidden beneath was in the programs; a small segment of unassuming junk code that would only become completed when someone installed a copy of Sword Art Online. Therefore, allowing Kayaba Akihiko a backdoor entrance into the Nerve Gear's security to hijack the machine.

Fluidly, Homura brought out the reports on Sword Art Online. He skipped through its production history and simply went to the more general knowledge.

A video game - the first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game of its kind - created by Kayaba Akihiko and published by Argus on November 6, 2022. It was something that would have finally used the Nerve Gear to its full potential of virtual reality immersion known as 'Full Dive.'

Sword Art Online was critically acclaimed to have been decades ahead of any other game - even far beyond the shoddy Full Dives produced by many other scientists and researchers world-wide. However, only 10,000 copies were created for the launch date and all of them were released within Japan's market - miraculously, not a single one had left the island nation's borders.

However, Sword Art Online immediately became the infamously notorious video game that had trapped the minds of 10,000 people within hours after its release and held them hostage - the 'SAO Incident' it was simply called, or 'the death-game' as it was known by the public.

Homura read further into the Sword Art Online report.

Once all 10,000 players were logged in all at once, Kayaba Akihiko snatched them right up and didn't let go.

One-hundred players under the age of 12. Two-hundred-and-fifty at the ages of 60 and above. Two-thousand between the ages of 30 and 55. And seven-thousand six-hundred-and-fifty players around the ages of 13 to 25.

The Head Investigative Officer narrowed his eyes and grimly sighed. The next pages - the ones he didn't want to read - was the death count.

272 deceased by the end of the first day.

93 accidental deaths before the warnings; friends or family had disconnected the power-cord to forcibly get the player to come to dinner, do homework, to pull a joke, or something of the sort without realizing what they had done until it was too late.

120 death during the warnings; primarily accidents by friends or family who didn't have an open-source of media and several cases of people attempting to outsmart and remove the Nerve Gear despite the announcements.

Finally, 59 more death after the warnings; a minority due to continue panic, but a majority had died because these people had lived alone and were not found within the given two-hour time-limit.

Homura thought of them as the unlucky ones - the ones who weren't even given a fighting chance. He did not avert his eyes as he continued to pour over the data.

At the end of the first week, the death count had soared to an unbelievable lost of an additional 1500 people - nearly one-fifth of Sword Art Online's total population; at that rate, everyone would be dead within a little more than two months. So it was to a horrifying relief that the numbers of death had waned by the end of the month - just _only_ an additional 500 people had passed away.

The officer's brow twitched ever so slightly.

The tally was roughly at 2300 deaths and 7700 still trapped. It was a terrible feeling to know absolutely nothing about what was happening inside Sword Art Online, other than that people were dying; everyone in the real world felt so powerless despite doing everything they could to find and capture Kayaba Akihiko to release the trapped players.

Homura's finger swiped the pages, moving onto the other reports that listed the trials of trying to remove a Nerve Gear. He didn't understand the specific technical details but there were plenty of informal notes added in to help him in understanding what the researchers were doing.

The first thing to understand was that the Nerve Gear was essentially a dome-shaped microwave oven that was draped over someone's head and could fry their brain. However, that was simply how the public understood it; the Nerve Gear was fairly more sophisticated machinery than that. Researchers were quite adamant in telling Homura that the Nerve Gear - which, for a lack of technical words, 'can manipulate and interfere with the human mind' - does not actually cook the brain as a microwave oven would to kill someone; though, they confirmed that 'fries the brain' was not necessarily wrong of a description, 'zaps the brain' would be more appropriate.

Unplugging the helmet - which was the primary cause of most accidental deaths - failed to do anything but activate the machine's internal batteries which accounted for about thirty-percent of the Nerve Gear's weight. Warning-wise, they knew that there was a ten-minute time limit before the 'brain-destruction-sequence' - or BDS - would begin; which seemed like a generous amount of time to remove the head-gear.

However, that led to the next problem that needed to be understood.

The Nerve Gear was - in a twisted sense - designed to be worn comfortably around the head for prolong periods of time and was also meant to stay securely attached - with or without the chin buckle - even if the user was to, say, perform a extreme bungee-jump off a bridge multiple times; getting it off in ten-minutes was not as simple as it sounded.

The soft but pressurized padding that lined the interior of the Nerve Gear was filled with electrodes for more fluid synchronization of the Full Dive, however, these same electrodes also acted like tiny pincers which could - in all tests - pierce through flesh and puncture holes into a human skull and latch on like an overgrown parasite. Luckily, the destruction of the brain through physical force was a last resort and the criteria to activate this method of death was so absolutely obscure and out-of-reach for the average person that - as the situation was now - there wouldn't be an accidental triggering of it.

Continuing on, the inside of the Nerve Gear is highly sensitive to tampering. The head-gear's hull is at least a half-inch layer of light-weight but durable alloy which won't even crack for anything less than a speeding car, which protects the more fragile components beneath it. Inside that half-inch layer is an all encompassing series of secondary wires and hardware that acted as a back-up system if necessary, however, in this case only served to be a net - that if disturbed - activated the BDS.

Likewise, if someone were able to get pass the half-inch layer, they would have to deal with the primary systems which is spread out all over the Nerve Gear's frame - many of them hidden or clustered near redundant systems; new theories aren't entirely certain that they're completely redundant as first thought and may actually be an entirely different but still cleverly made trigger system instead.

In rather simple words: The Nerve Gear was not a puzzle waiting to be solved, it was a big red button waiting to be pushed. And it has caused no end of frustration to everyone involved in the newly sanctioned organization, 'the Digital Terrorism Committee.'

Homura's hand shifted onto the most recent page.

There were many projects by many different groups trying to gain a hefty budget in creating something that could possibly neutralize and remove the threat that the Nerve Gear posed to the still trapped players. However, after the first few projects ending in complete failure and were scrapped, the mass amount of money being used to maintain the health of the player's physical body along with reparations to the family, the resources and assets being spent on searching for Kayaba Akihiko, the Japanese Government was stretching itself thin.

The Head Investigative Officer grumbled as he spun his chair and placed a palm over his face.

The international response was decidedly lackluster.

The initial outrage and fear concerning the Nerve Gear which was primarily direct to Argus was - mildly speaking - an ocean full of shame along with the mass recalling - and then destruction - of every known Nerve Gear in public hands. For the most part, only a few researchers were sent to Japan's aid as a sign of good faith - since the SAO Incident had not actually cross international borders, despite the dangers it could pose.

Instead, the rest of the world were focusing their research-teams into rebuilding and stream-lining the Nerve Gear from the ground-up and expanding it into fields outside of video-gaming - such as medical or military; the immense possibilities of Virtual Reality was simply too good to give up. Even though the SAO Incident was a major eye-opener in Digital Terrorism, this was just as easily glossed over because the Nerve Gears were argued to have been cleverly designed for that exact purpose - general consensus was that the second-generation of Nerve Gear would be rid of all the dangers that plagued the first-model.

Likewise, contrary to Sword Art Online's demonization, the VRMMORPG was still critically-acclaimed as the very pinnacle of Full Dive and no one was sure if anyone could create something even remotely comparable to its scale within the next fifty years, unless they started now.

That was to say - though Homura hardly cared - that the SAO Incident had every other nation clamoring to get a head-start in developing Full Dive technology since everybody world-wide was essentially starting from scratch all over again.

The officer's eyes flitted to the clock. One AM; he was working himself dead tired.

He stood up from his chair and shuffled the stacks of report one more time.

Out came the papers about Kayaba Akihiko; the man's date-of-birth, his education, his degrees, his family, his friends, his research, and so forth - all of it was well-documented and was heavily scrutinized intelligence that could be gathered about him. Everything pointed to Kayaba Akihiko to being a somewhat apathetic and unsocial genius, but nothing to becoming the madman he was known today.

Ever since the incident one month ago, Kayaba Akihiko and one other - a one miss 'Koujiro Rinko' - had simply vanished off the trace of Japan and the entire earth. The last time they were seen before falling off the grid was three months ago in the Argus branch office when the servers and main-frames for Sword Art Online were being set-up.

Homura gave one final glare at the remorseless photo of Kayaba Akihiko, before walking away.

_'Where the hell are you and what the hell are you after?'_

* * *

**Author Notes**

I'm not a scientist, I'm just a casual-writer! These explanations probably don't even make sense! But I am very interested in hearing thoughts/reviews about how death-trappish people think the Nerve Gear is; and also how interesting readers thought about this chapter. Anyways, I hope this is a satisfying chapter for you readers!

I have no idea if Fusashiya is even a proper family name; let's pretend it is.

Hm, how to describe Homura's appearance. Well, he's got a youthful-experienced-gruff face, black eyes, short gray hair, bit of a stubble, and his average-looking body is quite in shape; overall, he's a pretty cool-looking guy.

The Nerve Gear - when triggered - can damage the brain in less than a split-second of confirmation/activation (it's a machine that relays the brain signals from the body to the SAO mainframes, with out being directly connected, in real-time after all). The damage is enough to send a person into a coma (that they may or may not wake up from), into a vegetative state, or death.

Speaking of, the mainframes of SAO (located within the headquarters of an Argus branch office for SAO) is isolated from outside-interference. Nobody is quite sure what security measures Kayaba Akihiko has installed in the custom-made mainframes nor does anybody want to see if hacking the machines will cause a mass BDS.

Anyways, I have to apologize, because I'm going to start story-hopping and I mean that in the sense that I will be focusing on working on other stories (hopefully the older stories that desperately need my attention...); so unfortunately, KITN will be having slower updates... Sorry!

Also: thank you all for reading, favoriting, following, reviewing, and whatever else! Thank you very much; see you guys, well, whenever I update next!

* * *

**Review Notes C6**

WestAero13, Maybe. I will say that its possible for a player to pick-up a monster's weapon.

Thomas, Nope; teasing and a strong friendship, sure, but its highly unlikely that they'll be in a relationship together.


End file.
